Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998mnras.300l..29s&link_type=abstract
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 300, Issue 4, pp. L29-L33.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
42
Stars: Agb And Post-Agb, Stars: Carbon, Circumstellar Matter, Stars: Imaging, Stars: Individual: Irc+10216, Planetary Nebulae: General
Scientific paper
Our current understanding of the evolution of solar-type stars suggests that after a period as a red giant star, during which mass loss occurs continuously in the form of a stellar wind, a period of intense mass loss known as a superwind occurs, during which a significant fraction of the envelope of the star is ejected into space, forming the material from which a planetary nebula (PN) will be constructed. It has been suggested that this superwind ejects material from the star in a toroidal or disc-like fashion, rather than isotropically. Here we present Hubble Space Telescope optical images of a toroidal superwind caught in the act: our images of the carbon star IRC+10216, which is believed to be in the final stages of red giant evolution, show that most of its optical emission is a bipolar reflection nebula. We show that the full spectral energy distribution and these images can be modelled as an equatorially enhanced dusty superwind, providing the first direct observational support for the toroidal superwind model, and supporting the `interacting winds' model of PN formation.
Bobrowsky Matthew
Meixner Matthew
Skinner Christopher J.
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