The Shadow Echoes of the Unique R Coronae Borealis Star, UW Cen

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Hst Proposal Id #10267 Ism

Scientific paper

Understanding the R Coronae Borealis {RCB} stars is a key test for any theory aiming to explain hydrogen deficiency in post-AGB stars. The RCB stars are rare hydrogen-deficient carbon-rich supergiants that undergo very spectacular declines in brightness of up to 8 magnitudes at irregular intervals as dust forms near the star along the line of sight. UW Cen is unique among the cool RCB stars in having a visible circumstellar shell. The morphology of the nebula appears to change as different parts are illuminated by light from the central star modulated by shifting, thick dust clouds near its surface. The central star acts like a "lighthouse, " shining through gaps between the near-star dust clouds, and lighting up different portions of the outer nebula. We propose a scientific program in which a small number of observations using ACS/HRC will exploit UW Cen's unique circumstellar shell to address two critical elements in understanding RCB stars: determining an accurate distance to the star, and studying the otherwise unobservable dust clouds forming near the star's surface. We will model the images using Monte Carlo techniques to calculate the radiative transfer through arbitrary distributions of dust viewed from any angle.

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