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- Matsuura, M., et al.
(author)
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The mass-loss rates of red supergiants at low metallicity: detection of rotational CO emission from two red supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud
- 2016
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 462:3, s. 2995-3005
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using the PACS and SPIRE spectrometers on-board the Herschel Space Observatory, we obtained spectra of two red supergiants (RSGs) in the Large MagellanicCloud (LMC). Multiple rotational CO emission lines (J = 6-5 to 15-14) and 15 H2O lines were detected from IRAS 05280-6910, and one CO line was detected from WOH G64. This is the first time that CO rotational lines have been detected from evolved stars in the LMC. Their CO line intensities are as strong as those of the Galactic RSG, VY CMa. Modelling the CO lines and the spectral energy distribution results in an estimated mass-loss rate for IRAS 05280-6910 of 3 x 10(-4) M-circle dot yr(-1). The model assumes a gas-to-dust ratio and a CO-to-H-2 abundance ratio is estimated from the Galactic values scaled by the LMC metallicity ([Fe/H] similar to -0.3), i.e. that the CO-to-dust ratio is constant for Galactic and LMC metallicities within the uncertainties of the model. The key factor determining the CO line intensities and the mass-loss rate found to be the stellar luminosity.
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- Exter, K. M., et al.
(author)
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On the properties of dust and gas in the environs of V838 Monocerotis
- 2016
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 596
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims. We aim to probe the close and distant circumstellar environments of the stellar outburst object V838 Mon. Methods. Herschel far-infrared imaging and spectroscopy were taken at several epochs to probe the central point source and the extended environment of V838 Mon. PACS and SPIRE maps were used to obtain photometry of the dust immediately around V838 Mon, and in the surrounding infrared-bright region. These maps were fitted in 1d and 2d to measure the temperature, mass, and ? of the two dust sources. PACS and SPIRE spectra were used to detect emission lines from the extended atmosphere of the star, which were then modelled to study the physical conditions in the emitting material. HIFI spectra were taken to measure the kinematics of the extended atmosphere but unfortunately yielded no detections. Results. Fitting of the far-infrared imaging of V838 Mon reveals 0.5-0.6 M? of ? 19 K dust in the environs (? 2.7 pc) surrounding V838 Mon. The surface-integrated infrared flux (signifying the thermal light echo), and derived dust properties do not vary significantly between the different epochs. We measured the photometry of the point source. As the peak of the SED (Spectral Energy Distribution) lies outside the Herschel spectral range, it is only by incorporating data from other observatories and previous epochs that we can usefully fit the SED; with this we explicitly assume no evolution of the point source between the epochs. We find that warm dust with a temperature ~ 300 K distributed over a radius of 150-200 AU. We fit the far-infrared lines of CO arising from the point source, from an extended environment around V838 Mon. Assuming a model of a spherical shell for this gas, we find that the CO appears to arise from two temperature zones: a cold zone (Tkin ≠18 K) that could be associated with the ISM or possibly with a cold layer in the outermost part of the shell, and a warm (Tkin ? 400 K) zone that is associated with the extended environment of V838 Mon within a region of radius of ? 210 AU. The SiO lines arise from a warm/hot zone. We did not fit the lines of H2O as they are far more dependent on the model assumed.
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