Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001aas...19913509d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 199th AAS Meeting, #135.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 33, p.1507
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nebulae around Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) stars are characterized by asymmetric, often bipolar shapes. A classic example is the Homunculus nebula around the massive star η Carinae. In the standard interpretation of the generalized interacting stellar winds models, the asymmetry in shape is attributed to an asymmetry in the density structure of the ambient medium. However the observational evidence does not support this. In this work we use scaling relations derived from the theory of radiatively driven winds to model the outflows from LBV stars. Rotation of the star, and the latitudinal variation of the stellar flux due to gravity darkening is taken into account. It is shown that a star rotating close to its critical velocity will emit a wind whose velocity is higher at the poles than the equator, which can give rise to an asymmetric, bipolar wind-blown nebula. Inclusion of gravity darkening shifts the relative density toward the poles, but does not change the overall shape of the interaction front. We discuss the implications of these results for the general formation of wind-blown nebulae. VVD is supported by NASA grant NAG5-3530, and by a grant from NASA administered by the American Astronomical Society.
Dwarkadas Vikram V.
Owocki Stanley P.
No associations
LandOfFree
Radiatively Driven Winds and the Shaping of Bipolar LBV Nebulae does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Radiatively Driven Winds and the Shaping of Bipolar LBV Nebulae, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Radiatively Driven Winds and the Shaping of Bipolar LBV Nebulae will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1236852