FOC Imaging of the Dusty Envelopes of Mass-Losing Supergiants

Details FOC Imaging of the Dusty Envelopes of Mass-Losing Supergiants FOC Imaging of the Dusty Envelopes of Mass-Losing Supergiants

Jul 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996hst..prop.6416k&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #6416

Computer Science

1

Hst Proposal Id #6416 Cool Stars

Scientific paper

Stars more massive than 10 M_odot are destined to explode as supernovae {SN}. Pre-SN mass loss can prolong core buildup, and the rate and duration of mass loss therefore largely determines a massive star's post-main sequence evolution and its position in the H-R diagram prior to SN detonation. The envelope ejected by a mass-losing supergiant also plays an important role in the formation and evolution of a SN remnant. We propose to investigate these processes with HST. We will use the FOC to image two massive stars that are in different stages of post-main sequence evolution: VY CMa, the prototype for a class of heavily mass-losing OH/IR supergiants, and HD 179821, a post-red supergiant that is likely in transition to the Wolf-Rayet phase. Both are known to possess compact reflection nebulae, but ground-based techniques are unable to separate the inner nebulosities from the PSF of the central stars. We will use the unparalleled resolution of the FOC to probe the structure of these nebulae at subarcsecond scales. These data will yield the mass loss histories of the central stars and will demonstrate the presence or absence of axisymmetric mass loss and circumstellar disks. In so doing, our HST/FOC program will define the role of mass loss in determining the fates of SN progenitors and SN remnants.

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