3D Simulations of Betelgeuse's Bow Shock

Details 3D Simulations of Betelgeuse's Bow Shock 3D Simulations of Betelgeuse's Bow Shock

2011-09-07

arxiv.org/abs/1109.1555v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Minor revisions, replaced Fig. 1, 15, and 16, added movies. For a pdf version with higher resolution, see A&A: Forthcoming

Scientific paper

10.1051/0004-6361/201118002

Betelgeuse, the bright, cool red supergiant in Orion, is moving supersonically relative to the local interstellar medium. The star emits a powerful stellar wind which collides with this medium, forming a cometary structure, a bow shock, pointing in the direction of motion. We present the first 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the formation and evolution of Betelgeuse's bow shock. The models include realistic low temperature cooling and cover a range of plausible interstellar medium densities and stellar velocities between 0.3 - 1.9 cm-3 and 28 - 73 km/s. We show that the flow dynamics and morphology of the bow shock differ substantially due to the preferential growth of Rayleigh-Taylor or Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in the models. The former dominate the models with slow stellar velocities resulting in a clumpy bow shock sub-structure, whereas the latter produce a smoother, more layered sub-structure in the fast models. If the mass in the bow shock shell is low, as seems to be implied by the AKARI luminosities (~0.003 Msun), then Betelgeuse's bow shock is very young and is unlikely to have reached a steady state. The circular nature of the bow shock shell is consistent with this conclusion. Thus, our results suggest that Betelgeuse entered the red supergiant phase only recently.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

3D Simulations of Betelgeuse's Bow Shock 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 3D Simulations of Betelgeuse's Bow Shock, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and 3D Simulations of Betelgeuse's Bow Shock will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-474064