The molecular envelope around the red supergiant VY CMa

Details The molecular envelope around the red supergiant VY CMa The molecular envelope around the red supergiant VY CMa

2006-11-17

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0611547v1

Astrophys.J.656:1109-1120,2007

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

accepted for publication in ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/510513

We present millimeter interferometric observations of the molecular envelope around the red supergiant VY CMa with the SubMillimeter Array (SMA). The high angular resolution (< 2'') allows us to derive the structure of the envelope as observed in the 1.3 mm continuum, 12CO(2-1), 13CO(2-1) and SO(6,5-5,4) lines emission. The circumstellar envelope is resolved into three components: a dense, compact and dusty central component, embedded in a more diffuse and extended envelope plus a high velocity component. We construct a simple model, consisting of a spherically symmetric slowly expanding envelope and bipolar outflows with a wide opening angle (~ 120 deg.) viewed close to the line of sight (i = 15 deg.). Our model can explain the main features of the SMA data and previous single-dish CO multi-line observations. An episode of enhanced mass loss along the bipolar direction is inferred from our modelling. The SMA data provide a better understanding of the complicated morphology seen in the optical/IR high resolution observations.

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