No Arabic abstract
We study the morpho-kinematics in the nascent wind of AGB star R Doradus in the light of high Doppler velocity wings observed in the spectral lines of several species. We probe distances from the star between ~10 and ~100 au using ALMA observations of the emission of five different molecular lines. High Doppler velocity enhancements of the line emission are observed in the vicinity of the line of sight crossing the star, reminiscent of those recently interpreted as gas streams in the nascent wind of a similar AGB star, EP Aqr. They are present in both blue-shifted and red-shifted hemispheres but are not exactly back-to-back. They are accelerated at a typical rate of 0.7 km s$^{-1}$ au$^{-1}$ up to some 20 km s$^{-1}$. Important differences are observed between the emissions of different molecules. We exclude an effect of improper continuum subtraction. However, in contrast to EP Aqr, the line of sight plays no particular role in the R Dor morpho-kinematics, shedding doubt on the validity of a gas stream interpretation.We discuss possible interpretations in terms of stellar pulsations or of rotation of the gas in the environment of the star. We conclude that, in the state of current knowledge, no fully convincing picture of the physics governing the production of such high velocities, typically twice as large as the terminal velocity, can be reliably drawn. New high resolution analyses of observations of the nascent wind of oxygen-rich AGB stars are needed to clarify the issue.
We analyse ALMA observations of the SO($J_K=6_5-5_4$) emission of the circumstellar envelope of oxygen-rich AGB star R Dor, probing distances between 20 and 100 au from the star where the nascent wind is building up. We give evidence for the slow wind to host, in addition to a previously observed rotating disc, a radial outflow covering very large solid angles and displaying strong inhomogeneity both in direction and radially: the former takes the form of multiple cores and the latter displays a radial dependence suggesting an episode of enhanced mass loss having occurred a century or so ago.
Using ALMA observations of $^{12}$CO(2-1), $^{28}$SiO(5-4) and $^{32}$SO$_2$(16$_{6,10}$-17$_{5,13}$) emissions of the circumstellar envelope of AGB star EP Aqr, we describe the morpho-kinematics governing the nascent wind. Main results are: 1) Two narrow polar structures, referred to as jets, launched from less than 25 au away from the star, build up between $sim$ 20 au and $sim$ 100 au to a velocity of $sim$ 20 kms. They fade away at larger distances and are barely visible in CO data. 2) SO$_2$, SiO and CO emissions explore radial ranges reaching respectively $sim$30 au, 250 au and 1000 au from the star, preventing the jets to be detected in SO$_2$ data. 3) Close to the star photosphere, rotation (undetected in SiO and CO data) and isotropic radial expansion combine with probable turbulence to produce a broad SO$_2$ line profile ($sim$ 7.5 kms FWHM). 4) A same axis serves as axis of rotation close to the star, as jet axis and as axi-symmetry axis at large distances. 5) A radial wind builds up at distances up to $sim$ 300 au from the star, with larger velocity near polar than equatorial latitudes. 6) A sharp depletion of SiO and CO emissions, starting near the star, rapidly broadens to cover the whole blue-western quadrant, introducing important asymmetry in the CO and particularly SiO observations. 7) The $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C abundance ratio is measured as 9$pm$2. 8) Plausible interpretations are discussed, in particular assuming the presence of a companion.
High resolution observations of the extended atmospheres of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars can now directly confront the theories that describe stellar mass loss. Using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) high angular resolution ($30times42$~mas) observations we have, for the first time, resolved stellar rotation of an AGB star, R~Dor. We measure an angular rotation velocity of $omega_Rsin{i}=(3.5pm0.3)times10^{-9}$~rad~s$^{-1}$ which indicates a rotational velocity of $|upsilon_{rm rot}sin{i}|=1.0pm0.1$~km~s$^{-1}$ at the stellar surface ($R_*=31.2$~mas at $214$~GHz). The rotation axis projected on the plane of the sky has a position angle $Phi=7pm6^circ$. We find that the rotation of R Dor is two orders of magnitude faster than expected for a solitary AGB star that will have lost most of its angular momentum. Its rotational velocity is consistent with angular momentum transfer from a close companion. As a companion has not been directly detected we thus suggest R~Dor has a low-mass, close-in, companion. The rotational velocity approaches the critical velocity, set by the local sound speed in the extended envelope, and is thus expected to affect the mass loss characteristics of R~Dor.
CIT 6 is a carbon star in the transitional phase from the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) to the protoplanetary nebulae (pPN). Observational evidences of two point sources in the optical, circumstellar arc segments in an HC$_3$N line emission, and a bipolar nebula in near-infrared provide strong support for the presence of a binary companion. Hence, CIT 6 is very attractive for studying the role of companions in the AGB-pPN transition. We have carried out high resolution $^{12}$CO $J=2-1$ and $^{13}$CO $J=2-1$ observations of CIT 6 with the Submillimeter Array combined with the Submillimeter Telescope (single-dish) data. The $^{12}$CO channel maps reveal a spiral-shell pattern connecting the HC$_3$N segments in a continuous form, and an asymmetric outflow corresponding to the near-infrared bipolar nebula. Rotation of the $^{12}$CO channel peak position may be related to the inner spiral winding and/or the bipolar outflow. An eccentric orbit binary is suggested for the presences of an anisotropic mass loss to the west and a double spiral pattern. The lack of interarm emission to the west may indicate a feature corresponding to the periastron passage of a highly eccentric orbit of the binary. Spatially-averaged radial and spectral profiles of $^{12}$CO $J=2-1$ and $^{13}$CO $J=2-1$ are compared with simple spherical radiative transfer models, suggesting a change of $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO abundance ratio from $sim30$ to $sim50$ inward in the CSE of CIT 6. The millimeter continuum emission is decomposed into extended dust thermal emission (spectral index $sim-2.4$) and compact emission from radio photosphere (spectral index $sim-2.0$).
The determination of solar wind outflow velocity is fundamental in order to probe the mechanisms of wind acceleration in the corona. We aim to study, via the Doppler dimming technique, the effects that the chromospheric Ly{alpha} line profile shape causes on the determination of the outflow speed of coronal HI atoms. The Doppler dimming technique takes into account the decrease of coronal Ly{alpha} radiation in regions where HI atoms flow out in the solar wind. Starting from UV observations (UVCS/SOHO) of the coronal Ly{alpha} line and simultaneous measurements of pB (LASCO/SOHO and Mk3/MLSO), we studied the effect of the pumping chromospheric Ly{alpha} line profile through measurements from SOHO/SUMER, UVSP/SMM and LPSP/OSO-8, taken from representative on-disk regions and as a function of time during the solar activity cycle. In particular, we considered the effect of four chromospheric line parameters: line width, depth of the central reversal, asymmetry and distance of the peaks. We find that the range of variability of these parameters is of about 50% for the width, 69% for the depth of the central reversal, 35% for the asymmetry, and 50% for the distance of the peaks. Then, we find that the variability of the pumping Ly{alpha} profile affects the estimates of the coronal HI velocity by about 9-12%. Therefore, this uncertainty is smaller than other physical quantities uncertainties, and a constant in time and unique shape of the Ly{alpha} profile over the solar disk can be adopted in order to estimate the solar wind outflow velocity.