ﻻ يوجد ملخص باللغة العربية
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, independent measurement of the distance to R Sculptoris, reducing the absolute uncertainty of the distance estimate to this source. R Scl is a semi-regular pulsating star, surrounded by a thin shell of dust and gas created during a thermal pulse approximately 2000 years ago. The stellar light is scattered by the dust particles in the shell at a radius of 19 arcsec. The variation in the stellar light affects the amount of dust-scattered light with the same period and amplitude ratio, but with a phase lag that depends on the absolute size of the shell. We measured this phase lag by observing the star R Scl and the dust-scattered stellar light from the shell at five epochs between June - December 2017. By observing in polarised light, we imaged the shell in the plane of the sky, removing any uncertainty due to geometrical effects. The phase lag gives the absolute size of the shell, and together with the angular size of the shell directly gives the absolute distance to R Sculptoris. We measured a phase lag between the stellar variations and the variation in the shell of 40.0 +/- 4.0 days. The angular size of the shell is measured to be 19.1 arcsec +/- 0.7 arcsec. Combined, this gives an absolute distance to R Sculptoris of 361 +/- 44 pc. We independently determined the absolute distance to R Scl with an uncertainty of 12%. The estimated distance is consistent with previous estimates, but is one of the most accurate distances to the source to date. In the future, using the variations in polarised, dust-scattered stellar light, may offer an independent possibility to measure reliable distances to AGB stars.
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
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 val
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
We report here on the discovery of an extended far-infrared shell around the AGB star, R Cassiopeia, made by AKARI and Spitzer. The extended, cold circumstellar shell of R Cas spans nearly 3 arcmin and is probably shaped by interaction with the inter
The asymptotic giant branch star R Sculptoris is surrounded by a detached shell of dust and gas. The shell originates from a thermal pulse during which the star undergoes a brief period of increased mass loss. It has hitherto been impossible to const