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We present near-infrared interferometry of the carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star R Sculptoris. The visibility data indicate a broadly circular resolved stellar disk with a complex substructure. The observed AMBER squared visibility values show drops at the positions of CO and CN bands, indicating that these lines form in extended layers above the photosphere. The AMBER visibility values are best fit by a model without a wind. The PIONIER data are consistent with the same model. We obtain a Rosseland angular diameter of 8.9+-0.3 mas, corresponding to a Rosseland radius of 355+-55 Rsun, an effective temperature of 2640+-80 K, and a luminosity of log L/Lsun=3.74+-0.18. These parameters match evolutionary tracks of initial mass 1.5+-0.5 Msun and current mass 1.3+-0.7 Msun. The reconstructed PIONIER images exhibit a complex structure within the stellar disk including a dominant bright spot located at the western part of the stellar disk. The spot has an H-band peak intensity of 40% to 60% above the average intensity of the limb-darkening-corrected stellar disk. The contrast between the minimum and maximum intensity on the stellar disk is about 1:2.5. Our observations are broadly consistent with predictions by dynamic atmosphere and wind models, although models with wind appear to have a circumstellar envelope that is too extended compared to our observations. The detected complex structure within the stellar disk is most likely caused by giant convection cells, resulting in large-scale shock fronts, and their effects on clumpy molecule and dust formation seen against the photosphere at distances of 2-3 stellar radii.
Stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) lose substantial amounts of matter, to the extent that they are important for the chemical evolution of, and dust production in, the universe. The mass loss is believed to increase gradually with age on the
For the carbon AGB star R Sculptoris, the uncertain distance significantly affects the interpretation of observations regarding the evolution of the stellar mass loss during and after the most recent thermal pulse. We aim to provide a new, independen
The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star R Sculptoris (R Scl) is one of the most extensively studied stars on the AGB. R Scl is a carbon star with a massive circumstellar shell ($M_{shell}sim 7.3times10^{-3}~M_{odot}$) which is thought to have been pro
So far, only one rotating disk has been clearly identified and studied in AGB or post-AGB objects (in the Red Rectangle), by means of observations with high spectral and spatial resolution. However, disks are thought to play a key role in the late st
We are studying a class of binary post-AGB stars that seem to be systematically surrounded by equatorial disks and slow outflows. Although the rotating dynamics had only been well identified in three cases, the study of such structures is thought to