High-resolution thermal infrared imaging of MWC300. VLT/VISIR observations in BURST mode

Details High-resolution thermal infrared imaging of MWC300. VLT/VISIR observations in BURST mode High-resolution thermal infrared imaging of MWC300. VLT/VISIR observations in BURST mode

Mar 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008a%26a...480l..29d&link_type=abstract

Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 480, Issue 2, 2008, pp.L29-L32

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

6

Stars: Individual: Mwc300, Methods: Observational, Techniques: High Angular Resolution, Stars: Emission-Line, Be

Scientific paper

Context: B[e] stars are expected to possess dusty circumstellar environments, which are responsible for a strong infrared (IR) excess. Aims: Using single-dish diffraction-limited imaging in the thermal infrared domain, we aim at measuring the angular extension of the dusty environment of the galactic B[e] MWC 300. Methods: We obtained diffraction-limited images of MWC 300 at 11.25 μm using the BURST mode of the VLT/VISIR instrument. Results: MWC 300 is partially, but statistically significantly, resolved by VISIR so that we could measure the size of its dusty envelope for the first time. By assuming a 2D circular Gaussian intensity distribution and using different image analysis methods we measured a FWHM angular size of 69 ± 10 mas. For a distance of 1.8 kpc, we obtain a linear size of 125±18 AU = (1.87±0.26) × 1013 m for the circumstellar dust emitting in the mid-IR. This measured size is shown to agree with a model that was calculated with our radiative radiative transfer code and constrained by previously reported SED data. Additionally, the flux of MWC 300 at 11.25 μm is estimated as 84.5±1.4 Jy = (20.0±0.3) × 10-13 W/m^2/μm. Conclusions: The VLT/VISIR now offers the possibility of obtaining mid-IR diffraction-limited images with a high signal-to-noise ratio. The MWC 300's size as directly measured in this work is compatible with the theoretical size of a nearly edge-on dusty disc estimated in previous works. Interferometric data at milliarcsec angular resolution are required to reveal details on this dusty envelope.
Based on observations performed at the European Southern Observatory, Chile under ESO Program 078.D-0295(A).

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