THE CIRCUMSTELLAR ENVIRONMENT OF R CORONAE BOREALIS : WHITE DWARF MERGER OR FINAL-HELIUM-SHELL FLASH?

• In 2007, R Coronae Borealis (R CrB) went into a historically deep and long decline. In this state, the dust acts like a natural coronagraph at visible wavelengths, allowing faint nebulosity around the star to be seen. Imaging has been obtained from 0.5 to 500 mu m with Gemini/GMOS, Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2, Spitzer/MIPS, and Herschel/SPIRE. Several of the structures around R CrB are cometary globules caused by wind from the star streaming past dense blobs. The estimated dust mass of the knots is consistent with their being responsible for the R CrB declines if they form along the line of sight to the star. In addition, there is a large diffuse shell extending up to 4 pc away from the star containing cool 25 K dust that is detected all the way out to 500 mu m. The spectral energy distribution of R CrB can be well fitted by a 150 AU disk surrounded by a very large diffuse envelope which corresponds to the size of the observed nebulosity. The total masses of the disk and envelope are 10(-4) and 2M(circle dot), respectively, assuming a gas-to-dust ratio of 100. The evidence pointing toward a white dwarf merger or a final-helium-shell flash origin for R CrB is contradictory. The shell and the cometary knots are consistent with a fossil planetary nebula. Along with the fact that R CrB shows significant lithium in its atmosphere, this supports the final-helium-shell flash. However, the relatively high inferred mass of R CrB and its high fluorine abundance support a white dwarf merger.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

dust

extinction

stars: evolution

stars: mass-loss

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)