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Register a new userA dense disk of dust around the born-again Sakurais object
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Authors
Olivier Chesneau
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In 1996, Sakurais object (V4334 Sgr) suddenly brightened in the centre of a faint Planetary Nebula (PN). This very rare event was interpreted as the reignition of a hot white dwarf that caused a rapid evolution back to the cool giant phase. From 1998 on, a copious amount of dust has formed continuously, screening out the star which has remained embedded in this expanding high optical depth envelope. The new observations, reported here, are used to study the morphology of the circumstellar dust in order to investigate the hypothesis that Sakurais Object is surrounded by a thick spherical envelope of dust. We have obtained unprecedented, high-angular resolution spectro-interferometric observations, taken with the mid-IR interferometer MIDI/VLTI, which resolve the dust envelope of Sakurais object. We report the discovery of a unexpectedly compact (30 x 40 milliarcsec, 105 x 140 AU assuming a distance of 3.5 kpc), highly inclined, dust disk. We used Monte Carlo radiative-transfer simulations of a stratified disk to constrain its geometric and physical parameters, although such a model is only a rough approximation of the rapidly evolving dust structure. Even though the fits are not fully satisfactory, some useful and robust constraints can be inferred. The disk inclination is estimated to be 75+/-3 degree with a large scale height of 47+/-7 AU. The dust mass of the disk is estimated to be 6 10^{-5} solar mass. The major axis of the disk (132+/-3 degree) is aligned with an asymmetry seen in the old PN that was re-investigated as part of this study. This implies that the mechanism responsible for shaping the dust envelope surrounding Sakurais object was already at work when the old PN formed.
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Planetary nebulae are ionized clouds of gas formed by the hydrogen-rich envelopes of low- and intermediate-mass stars ejected at late evolutionary stages. The strong UV flux from their central stars causes a highly stratified ionization structure, with species of higher ionization potential closer to the star. Here we report on the exceptional case of HuBi 1, a double-shell planetary nebula whose inner shell presents emission from low-ionization species close to the star and emission from high-ionization species farther away. Spectral analysis demonstrates that the inner shell of HuBi 1 is excited by shocks, whereas its outer shell is recombining. The anomalous excitation of these shells can be traced to its low-temperature [WC10] central star whose optical brightness has declined continuously by 10 magnitudes in a period of 46 years. Evolutionary models reveal that this star is the descendent of a low-mass star ($simeq$1.1 $M_odot$) that has experienced a born-again event whose ejecta shock-excite the inner shell. HuBi 1 represents the missing link in the formation of metal-rich central stars of planetary nebulae from low-mass progenitors, offering unique insight regarding the future evolution of the born-again Sakurais object. Coming from a solar-mass progenitor, HuBi 1 represents a potential end-state for our Sun.
We present an analysis of the evolution of circumstellar dust and molecules in the environment of the very late thermal pulse object V4334 Sgr (Sakurais Object) over a $sim20$-year period, drawing on ground-, airborne- and space-based infrared photometry and spectroscopy. The dust emission, which started in 1997, resembles a blackbody that cooled from $sim1200$K in 1998 August to $sim180$K in 2016 July. The dust mass, assuming amorphous carbon, was $sim5times10^{-10}$M$_odot$ in 1998 August, and we estimate that the total dust mass was $sim2times10^{-5}$M$_odot$ by $sim2016$. The appearance of a near infrared excess in 2008 suggests a new episode of (or renewed) mass loss began then. We infer lower limits on the bolometric luminosity of the embedded star from that of the dust shell, which rose to $sim16000$L$_odot$ before declining to $sim3000$L$_odot$. There is evidence for weak 6-7$mu$m absorption, which we attribute to hydrogenated amorphous carbon formed in material ejected by Sakurais Object during a mass ejection phase that preceded the 1997 event. We detect small hydrocarbon and other molecules in the spectra, and trace the column densities in hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and acetylene (C$_2$H$_2$). We use the former to determine the $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C ratio to be $6.4pm0.7$, 14 times smaller than the Solar System value.
While in the past spherodicity was assumed, and still is used in modeling of most nebulae, we know now that only a small number of planetary nebulae (PNe) are really spherical or at least nearly round. Round planetary nebulae are the minority of objects. In the case of those objects that underwent a very late helium flash (called VLTP objects or ``born-again PNe) it seems to be different. The first, hydrogen-rich PN, is more or less round. The ejecta from the VLTP event, in contrast, are extremely asymmetrical.
We present an infrared (IR) characterization of the born-again planetary nebulae (PNe) A30 and A78 using IR images and spectra. We demonstrate that the carbon-rich dust in A30 and A78 is spatially coincident with the H-poor ejecta and coexists with hot X-ray-emitting gas up to distances of 50$$ from the central stars (CSPNs). Dust forms immediately after the born-again event and survives for 1000 yr in the harsh environment around the CSPN as it is destroyed and pushed away by radiation pressure and dragged by hydrodynamical effects. Spitzer IRS spectral maps showed that the broad spectral features at 6.4 and 8.0 $mu$m, attributed to amorphous carbon formed in H-deficient environments, are associated with the disrupted disk around their CSPN, providing an optimal environment for charge exchange reactions with the stellar wind that produces the soft X-ray emission of these sources. Nebular and dust properties are modeled for A30 with Cloudy taking into account different carbonaceous dust species. Our models predict dust temperatures in the 40-230 K range, five times lower than predicted by previous works. Gas and dust masses for the born-again ejecta in A30 are estimated to be $M_mathrm{gas}=(4.41^{+0.55}_{-0.14})times10^{-3}$ M$_odot$ and $M_mathrm{dust}=(3.20^{+3.21}_{-2.06})times10^{-3}$ M$_odot$, which can be used to estimate a total ejected mass and mass-loss rate for the born-again event of $(7.61^{+3.76}_{-2.20})times10^{-3}$ M$_{odot}$ and $dot{M}=[5-60]times10^{-5}$ M$_{odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, respectively. Taking into account the carbon trapped into dust grains, we estimate that the C/O mass ratio of the H-poor ejecta of A30 is larger than 1, which favors the very late thermal pulse model over the alternate hypothesis of a nova-like event.
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