Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2010-12-08
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters
Scientific paper
We report the results of observations of ten rotational transitions of water vapor toward the carbon-rich AGB (asymptotic giant branch) star IRC+10216 (CW Leonis), carried out with Herschel's HIFI instrument. Each transition was securely detected by means of observations using the dual beam switch mode of HIFI. The measured line ratios imply that water vapor is present in the inner outflow at small distances (few x 1.E+14 cm) from the star, confirming recent results reported by Decin et al. from observations with Herschel's PACS and SPIRE instruments. This finding definitively rules out the hypothesis that the observed water results from the vaporization of small icy objects in circular orbits. The origin of water within the dense C-rich envelope of IRC+10216 remains poorly understood. We derive upper limits on the H2-17O/H2-16O and H2-18O/H2-16O isotopic abundance ratios of ~ 5.E-3 (3 sigma), providing additional constraints on models for the origin of the water vapor in IRC+10216.
Cernicharo Jose
de Koter Alex
Decin Leen
Gonzalez-Alfonso Eduardo
Melnick Gary J.
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