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Register a new userDirect imaging of a massive dust cloud around R Coronae Borealis
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We present recent polarimetric images of the highly variable star R CrB using ExPo and archival WFPC2 images from the HST. We observed R CrB during its current dramatic minimum where it decreased more than 9 mag due to the formation of an obscuring dust cloud. Since the dust cloud is only in the line-of-sight, it mimics a coronograph allowing the imaging of the stars circumstellar environment. Our polarimetric observations surprisingly show another scattering dust cloud at approximately 1.3 or 2000 AU from the star. We find that to obtain a decrease in the stellar light of 9 mag and with 30% of the light being reemitted at infrared wavelengths (from R CrBs SED) the grains in R CrBs circumstellar environment must have a very low albedo of approximately 0.07%. We show that the properties of the dust clouds formed around R CrB are best fitted using a combination of two distinct populations of grains size. The first are the extremely small 5 nm grains, formed in the low density continuous wind, and the second population of large grains (~0.14 {mu}m) which are found in the ejected dust clouds. The observed scattering cloud, not only contains such large grains, but is exceptionally massive compared to the average cloud.
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We have observed P-Cygni and asymmetric, blue-shifted absorption profiles in the He I 10830 lines of twelve R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars over short (1 month) and long (3 year) timescales to look for variations linked to their dust-formation episodes. In almost all cases, the strengths and terminal velocities of the line vary significantly and are correlated with dust formation events. Strong absorption features with blue-shifted velocities ~400 km/s appear during declines in visible brightness and persist for about 100 days after recovery to maximum brightness. Small residual winds of somewhat lower velocity are present outside of the decline and recovery periods. The correlations support models in which recently formed dust near the star is propelled outward at high speed by radiation pressure and drags the gas along with it.
The R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are rare hydrogen-deficient, carbon-rich, supergiants, best known for their spectacular declines in brightness at irregular intervals. Efforts to discover more RCB stars have more than doubled the number known in the last few years and they appear to be members of an old, bulge population. Two evolutionary scenarios have been suggested for producing an RCB star, a double degenerate merger of two white dwarfs, or a final helium shell flash in a planetary nebula central star. The evidence pointing toward one or the other is somewhat contradictory, but the discovery that RCB stars have large amounts of 18O has tilted the scales towards the merger scenario. If the RCB stars are the product of white dwarf mergers, this would be a very exciting result since RCB stars would then be low-mass analogs of type Ia supernovae. The predicted number of RCB stars in the Galaxy is consistent with the predicted number of He/CO WD mergers. But, so far, only about 65 of the predicted 5000 RCB stars in the Galaxy have been discovered. The mystery has yet to be solved.
The R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are rare hydrogen--deficient, carbon--rich supergiants. They undergo extreme, irregular declines in brightness of many magnitudes due to the formation of thick clouds of carbon dust. It is thought that RCB stars result from the mergers of CO/He white dwarf (WD) binaries. We constructed post--merger spherically asymmetric models computed with the MESA code, and then followed the evolution into the region of the HR diagram where the RCB stars are located. We also investigated nucleosynthesis in the dynamically accreting material of CO/He WD mergers which may provide a suitable environment for significant production of 18O and the very low 16O/18O values observed. We have also discovered that the N abundance depends sensitively on the peak temperature in the He--burning shell. Our MESA modeling consists of engineering the star by adding He--WD material to an initial CO--WD model, and then following the post--merger evolution using a nuclear--reaction network to match the observed RCB abundances as it expands and cools to become an RCB star. These new models are more physical because they include rotation, mixing, mass-loss, and nucleosynthesis within MESA. We follow the later evolution beyond the RCB phase to determine the stars likely lifetimes. The relative numbers of known RCB and Extreme Helium (EHe) stars correspond well to the lifetimes predicted from the MESA models. In addition, most of computed abundances agree very well with the observed range of abundances for the RCB class.
Mid-infrared photometry of R Coronae Borealis stars obtained from various satellites from IRAS to WISE has been utilized in studying the variations of the circumstellar dusts contributions to the spectral energy distribution of these stars. The variation of the fractional coverage (R) of dust clouds and their blackbody temperatures (T$_d$) have been used in trying to understand the dust cloud evolution over the three decades spanned by the satellite observations. In particular, it is shown that a prediction R $ propto T_d^4$ developed in this paper is satisfied, especially by those stars for which a single collection of cloud dominates the IR fluxes. Correlations of R with photospheric abundance and luminosity of the stars are explored.
Surface abundances of 14 (11 majority class and 3 minority class) R Coronae Borealis stars (RCBs) along with the final flash object, V4334 Sgr (Sakurais object) are revised based on their carbon abundances measured from the observed C2 bands; note that the earlier reported abundances were derived using an assumed carbon abundance due to the well known ``carbon problem. The hot RCB MV Sgr is not subject to a carbon problem; it is remarkable to note that MV Sgrs carbon abundance lies in the range that is measured for the majority and minority class RCBs. The revised iron abundances for the RCBs are in the range log E(Fe)=3.8 to log E(Fe)=5.8 with the minority class RCB V854 Cen at lower end and the majority class RCB R CrB at the higher end of this range. Indications are that the revised RCBs metallicity range is roughly consistent with the metal poor population contained within the bulge. The revised abundances of RCBs are then compared with extreme helium stars (EHes), the hotter relatives of RCBs. Clear differences are observed between RCBs and EHes in their metallicity distribution, carbon abundances, and the abundance trends observed for the key elements. These abundances are further discussed in the light of their formation scenarios.
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