Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 2012
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21934311k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #343.11
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Cosmic dust strongly affects many astrophysical environments and is therefore crucial to our understanding of the Universe in general. For that purpose, we study the stardust that forms around stars as they die and return their material (including newly formed elements) to interstellar space. Recent studies have produced results that contradict the conventional models for dust formation, postulating that dust around optically thin oxygen-rich intermediate mass evolved stars (asymptotic giant branch [AGB] stars) is comprised of crystalline rather than amorphous silicates.
We present an analysis of Gemini/Michelle near infrared (IR) observational data of the O-rich low-mass loss rate AGB star R Hya as a case study. With spatially-resolved spectroscopy we investigate changes in features of IR spectra, diagnostic of the incident material, with respect to position around the central star. We present the spatial distributions among three prominent spectral features of R Hya at 9, 10, and 11 microns, as well as how the shapes and peak positions of broad spectral features change with spatial position. Spatially-resolved dust spectra allow us to determine which features are correlated and help us determine the true dust carrier(s) of the observed features. Furthermore, changes in the spectrum with respect to position in the circumstellar shell allow us to test dust formation hypotheses. We analyze how the spectral features and slope of the dust continuum change, using flux ratios of the three features of interest and pseudo-continuum points at 8 and 12 microns to compare the relative magnitudes of each feature in each spectrum.
Guha Niyogi Suklima
Kaberline Aaron
Speck Angela Karen
Volk Kathryn
No associations
LandOfFree
Understanding Stardust via Spatially-Resolved Spectroscopy: A Case Study on R Hya 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 Understanding Stardust via Spatially-Resolved Spectroscopy: A Case Study on R Hya, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Understanding Stardust via Spatially-Resolved Spectroscopy: A Case Study on R Hya will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1581462