The Asymmetric Nebula Surrounding the Extreme Red Supergiant Vy Canis Majoris

Details The Asymmetric Nebula Surrounding the Extreme Red Supergiant Vy Canis Majoris The Asymmetric Nebula Surrounding the Extreme Red Supergiant Vy Canis Majoris

Feb 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001aj....121.1111s&link_type=abstract

The Astronomical Journal, Volume 121, Issue 2, pp. 1111-1125.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

79

Stars: Circumstellar Matter, Stars: Individual: Constellation Name: Vy Canis Majoris, Stars: Supergiants

Scientific paper

We present HST/WFPC2 images plus ground-based infrared images and photometry of the very luminous OH/IR star VY Canis Majoris. Our WFPC2 data show a complex distribution of knots and filamentary arcs in the asymmetric reflection nebula around the obscured central star. The reflection arcs may result from multiple, asymmetric ejection episodes due to localized events on VY CMa's surface. Such events probably involve magnetic fields and convection, by analogy with solar activity. Surface photometry indicates that the star may have experienced enhanced mass loss over the past 1000 yr. We also demonstrate that the apparent asymmetry of the nebula results from a combination of high extinction and backscattering by dust grains. Thermal-infrared images reveal a more symmetric distribution, elongated along a nearly east-west direction. VY CMa probably has a flattened disklike distribution of dust with a northeast-southwest polar axis and may be experiencing activity analogous to solar prominences. The presence of an axis of symmetry raises interesting questions for a star the size of Saturn's orbit. Magnetic fields and surface activity may play an important role in VY CMa's mass-loss history. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

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