Millimeter Detection Of AlO (X2Σ+) In The Oxygen-rich Envelope Of VY Canis Majoris

Details Millimeter Detection Of AlO (X2Σ+) In The Oxygen-rich Envelope Of VY Canis Majoris Millimeter Detection Of AlO (X2Σ+) In The Oxygen-rich Envelope Of VY Canis Majoris

May 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21440219t&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #214, #402.19; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.666

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Scientific paper

A new circumstellar molecule, the radical AlO (X 2Σ+), has been detected toward the envelope of the oxygen-rich supergiant star VY Canis Majoris (VY CMa) via three rotational emission lines. The N = 7 → 6 and 6 → 5 features of AlO were observed at 1 mm using the Arizona Radio Observatory Submillimeter Telescope (ARO SMT) and the N = 4 → 3 line was detected at 2 mm using the ARO 12 m dish. All lines exhibit noticeable hyperfine broadening due to the I = 5/2 spin of the aluminum nucleus. Based on simulations of the line profiles, AlO most likely arises from the dust-acceleration zone in the spherical outflow of VY CMa, with a source size of θs 0.5''. Given this source size, the column density of AlO was found to be Ntot 2 × 1015 cm-2 for Trot 230 K, with a fractional abundance, relative to H2, of 10-8. Gas-phase thermodynamic equilibrium chemistry is the likely formation mechanism for AlO in VY CMa, but shocks may disrupt the condensation process into Al2O3, allowing AlO to survive 20 stellar radii. The detection of AlO in VY CMa is additional evidence of an active gas-phase refractory chemistry in oxygen-rich envelopes, and suggests such objects may be fruitful sources for other new oxide identifications.

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