A Spiral Goes Viral: Observations and Modeling of the Circumstellar Envelope around R Sculptoris

Author(s)

M. Brunner, M. Maercker, W. H. T. Vlemmings, M. Mečina, F. Kerschbaum, A. Mayer, E. Humphreys

Abstract

The complex circumstellar envelope (CSE) around the carbon-rich

asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star R Sculptoris has been observed with

ALMA, revealing a remarkable and up to now unique geometry, consisting

of a thin, spherically symmetric detached shell enclosing a spiral

structure. By comparing ALMA data in three different spectral bands -

covering different excitation states of the CO molecule - the gas

structure and mass-loss evolution of this object can be analyzed. A

morphological comparison between molecular line data (ALMA) and dust

images (Herschel/PACS) gives hints to the spatial distribution of both

constituents of the circumstellar envelope, as well as interaction

processes between the different media. Dust continuum radiative transfer

modeling of the detached shell around R Scl allows us to constrain the

dust parameters and delivers spectral energy distributions comparable to

observations.

Organisation(s)

Department of Astrophysics

External organisation(s)

Chalmers University of Technology

Pages

215-218

Publication date

08-2015

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103004 Astrophysics, 103003 Astronomy

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