Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999aas...195.4513c&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 195th AAS Meeting, #45.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 31, p.1438
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
It has been known for 60 years that the declines of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are caused by circumstellar dust formation. The declines occur suddenly and without warning. No spectroscopic changes have yet been noted near the beginning of the decline, which might be linked to the cooling gas that must be condensing to form the dust. The mechanism of mass loss and dust formation is still a mystery. New observational evidence along with models of the carbon chemistry around RCB stars suggest that dust may condense close to the star. Shocks propagating through the outer atmospheres encourage non-equilibrium conditions where the conditions for carbon nucleation may be present. CO is thought to be a critical gas coolant in this process. We report detections of the CO 4th positive system lines in STIS UV spectra of two RCB stars and of the CO v=2 bands in the near-IR for several RCB stars. These observations are being used to model the temperature and density of condensing gas around these stars.
Ayres Thomas R.
Clayton Geoff C.
Gordon Karl Douglas
Hanson Margaret Murray
No associations
LandOfFree
Detections of CO in the Circumstellar Shells of R Coronae Borealis Stars 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 Detections of CO in the Circumstellar Shells of R Coronae Borealis Stars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Detections of CO in the Circumstellar Shells of R Coronae Borealis Stars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1739998