Detections of CO in the Circumstellar Shells of R Coronae Borealis Stars

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

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.

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

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.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1739998

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