Infrared Imaging of the Dust Shell Structures of the Mira Stars o Ceti and R Leo

Details Infrared Imaging of the Dust Shell Structures of the Mira Stars o Ceti and R Leo Infrared Imaging of the Dust Shell Structures of the Mira Stars o Ceti and R Leo

Dec 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997hst..prop.7416l&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #7416

Physics

Optics

Hst Proposal Id #7416 Cool Stars

Scientific paper

Due to their mass loss, the Mira-type variables o Ceti and R Leo are surrounded by expanding shells composed of gas and dust. Visibility measurements were obtained at 11 micron with the Infrared Spatial Interferometer of the University of California at Berkeley. They demonstrate that dust condenses at distances of about 0.06-0.07" from the center of these stars. Furthermore, near-infrared Adaptive Optics observations of o Ceti, carried out at the ESO 3.6 m telescope, show complex circumstellar structures detected up to 2 arcsecs. The angular resolution of the HST in the near-infrared is sufficient to resolve the dust formation zone of the two Miras. The HST is especially needed for its extraordinary huge dynamical range in the infrared compared to any ground based systems. It provides an unique way to improve significantly our knowledge of the distribution of circumstellar matter in the stellar proximities. For instance, the search for the most recent important events in the circumstellar matter as tracers of the mass loss history can be done. A fresh insight on the geometry of the mass loss phenomenon is expected too. Polarimetric measurements will bring complementary informations about the size of the scattering dust particles in the different structures of the envelope. This program has implications on the evolution of low and intermediate mass stars, the formation of dust, the enrichment of our Galaxy in processed elements, and the role of binarity in the mass loss processes.

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