Model for the circumstellar gas around alpha Orionis

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

65

Abundance, Stellar Envelopes, Stellar Models, Supergiant Stars, Variable Stars, Carbon Monoxide, Potassium, Radio Astronomy, Stellar Mass, Stellar Mass Ejection, Stellar Spectrophotometry, Supernovae

Scientific paper

Models are presented to explain the physical conditions in the circumstellar envelope surrounding the red supergiant Alpha Orionis. The models of the CO density and neutral atomic potassium density are calculated for the outer shell to reproduce simultaneously both the radio detection of CO and optical measurements of the amount of scattering by neutral potassium around Alpha Ori. CO and potassium loss rates of 7 x 10 to the 39th/sec and 8 x 10 to the 37th/sec are obtained, which imply a potassium to carbon ratio greater than that of the sun by about a factor of 25. The low carbon abundance may be attributed to extensive CNO processing, and, together with the potassium abundance, indicates a total mass loss rate of 0.000015 solar masses/year. The mass loss, mass and abundance properties of Alpha Ori suggest it to be the progenitor of a Type II supernova such as Cas A.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Model for the circumstellar gas around alpha Orionis 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 Model for the circumstellar gas around alpha Orionis, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Model for the circumstellar gas around alpha Orionis will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1260650

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.