Photochemistry in the inner layers of clumpy circumstellar envelopes: formation of water in C-rich objects and of C-bearing molecules in O-rich objects

A mechanism based on the penetration of interstellar ultraviolet photons into the inner layers of clumpy circumstellar envelopes around AGB stars is proposed to explain the non-equilibrium chemistry observed in such objects. We show through a simple modelling approach that in circumstellar envelopes with a certain degree of clumpiness or with moderately low mass loss rates (a few 10^(-7) solar masses per year) a photochemistry can take place in the warm and dense inner layers inducing important changes in the chemical composition. In carbon-rich objects water vapor and ammonia would be formed with abundances of 10^(-8) - 10(^-6) relative to H2, while in oxygen-rich envelopes ammonia and carbon-bearing molecules such as HCN and CS would form with abundances of 10^(-9) - 10^(-7) relative to H2. The proposed mechanism would explain the recent observation of warm water vapor in the carbon-rich envelope IRC +10216 with the Herschel Space Observatory, and predict that H2O should be detectable in other carbon-rich objects.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Massive expanding torus and fast outflow in planetary nebula NGC 6302

We present interferometric observations of $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO $J$=2$-$1 emission from the butterfly-shaped, young planetary nebula NGC 6302. The high angular resolution and high sensitivity achieved in our observations allow us to resolve the nebula into two distinct kinematic components: (1) a massive expanding torus seen almost edge-on and oriented in the North-South direction, roughly perpendicular to the optical nebula axis. The torus exhibits very complex and fragmentated structure; (2) high velocity molecular knots moving at high velocity, higher than 20 \kms, and located in the optical bipolar lobes. These knots show a linear position-velocity gradient (Hubble-like flow), which is characteristic of fast molecular outflow in young planetary nebulae. From the low but variable $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO $J$=2$-$1 line intensity ratio we conclude that the $^{12}$CO $J$=2$-$1 emission is optically thick over much of the nebula. Using the optically thinner line $^{13}$CO $J$=2$-$1 we estimate a total molecular gas mass of $\sim$ 0.1 M$_\odot$, comparable to the ionized gas mass; the total gas mass of the NGC 6302 nebula, including the massive ionized gas from photon dominated region, is found to be $\sim$ 0.5 M$_\odot$. From radiative transfer modelling we infer that the torus is seen at inclination angle of 75$^\circ$ with respect to the plane of the sky and expanding at velocity of 15 \kms. Comparison with recent observations of molecular gas in NGC 6302 is also discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Herschel/HIFI observations of molecular emission in protoplanetary nebulae and young planetary nebulae

We performed Herschel/HIFI observations of intermediate-excitation molecular lines in the far-infrared/submillimeter range in a sample of ten protoplanetary nebulae and young planetary nebulae. The high spectral resolution provided by HIFI yields accurate measurements of the line profiles. The observation of these high-energy transitions allows an accurate study of the excitation conditions, particularly in the warm gas, which cannot be properly studied from the low-energy lines. We have detected FIR/sub-mm lines of several molecules, in particular of 12CO, 13CO, and H2O. Emission from other species, like NH3, OH, H2^{18}O, HCN, SiO, etc, has been also detected. Wide profiles showing sometimes spectacular line wings have been found. We have mainly studied the excitation properties of the high-velocity emission, which is known to come from fast bipolar outflows. From comparison with general theoretical predictions, we find that CRL 618 shows a particularly warm fast wind, with characteristic kinetic temperature Tk >~ 200 K. In contrast, the fast winds in OH 231.8+4.2 and NGC 6302 are cold, Tk ~ 30 K. Other nebulae, like CRL 2688, show intermediate temperatures, with characteristic values around 100 K. We also discuss how the complex structure of the nebulae can affect our estimates, considering two-component models. We argue that the differences in temperature in the different nebulae can be due to cooling after the gas acceleration (that is probably due to shocks); for instance, CRL 618 is a case of very recent acceleration, less than ~ 100 yr ago, while the fast gas in OH 231.8+4.2 was accelerated ~ 1000 yr ago. We also find indications that the densest gas tends to be cooler, which may be explained by the expected increase of the radiative cooling efficiency with the density.Comment: 24 pages, 31 figure

Submillimeter Array Observation of the Proto-Planetary Nebula CRL 618 in the CO J=6-5 Line

We report on the results of a Submillimeter Array interferometric observation of the proto-planetary nebula CRL 618 in the 12CO J=6-5 line. With the new capability of SMA enabling us to use two receivers at a time, we also observed simultaneously in the 12CO J=2-1 and 13CO J=2-1 lines. The 12CO J=6-5 and 13CO J=2-1 lines were first interferometrically observed toward CRL 618. The flux of the high velocity component of the 12CO J=6-5 line is almost fully recovered, while roughly 80% of the flux of the low velocity component is resolved out. The low recovery rate suggests that the emission region of the low velocity component of the 12CO J=6-5 line is largely extended. Continuum emission is detected both at 230 and 690 GHz. The flux of the 690 GHz continuum emission seems to be partially resolved out, suggesting dust emission partly contaminates the 690 GHz continuum flux. The cavity structure, which has been confirmed in a previous observation in the 12CO J=2-1 line, is not clearly detected in the 12CO J=6-5 line, and only the south wall of the cavity is detected. This result suggests that the physical condition of the molecular envelope of CRL 618 is not exactly axial symmetric.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in AJ. Full resolution version available at http://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/~junichi/paper

A Molecular Line Survey of the Highly Evolved Carbon Star CIT 6

We present a spectral line survey of the C-rich envelope CIT 6 in the 2mm and 1.3mm bands carried out with the Arizona Radio Observatory (ARO) 12m telescope and the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope (SMT). The observations cover the frequency ranges of 131--160 GHz, 219--244 GHz, and 252--268 GHz with typical sensitivity limit of T_R<10 mK. A total of 74 individual emission features are detected, of which 69 are identified to arise from 21 molecular species and isotopologues, with 5 faint lines remaining unidentified. Two new molecules (C4H and CH3CN) and seven new isotopologues (C17O, 29SiC2, 29SiO, 30SiO, 13CS, C33S, and CS) are detected in this object for the first time. The column densities, excitation temperatures, and fractional abundances of the detected molecules are determined using rotation diagram analysis. Comparison of the spectra of CIT 6 to that of IRC+10216 suggests that the spectral properties of CIT 6 are generally consistent with those of IRC+10216. For most of the molecular species, the intensity ratios of the lines detected in the two objects are in good agreement with each other. Nevertheless, there is evidence suggesting enhanced emission from CN and HC3N and depleted emission from HCN, SiS, and C4H in CIT 6. Based on their far-IR spectra, we find that CIT 6 probably has a lower dust-to-molecular gas ratio than IRC+10216. To investigate the chemical evolution of evolved stars, we compare the molecular abundances in the AGB envelopes CIT 6 and IRC+10216 and those in the bright proto-planetary nebula CRL 618. The implication on the circumstellar chemistry is discussed.Comment: 39 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Submillimeter narrow emission lines from the inner envelope of IRC+10216

A spectral-line survey of IRC+10216 in the 345 GHz band has been undertaken with the Submillimeter Array. Although not yet completed, it has already yielded a fairly large sample of narrow molecular emission lines with line-widths indicating expansion velocities of ~4 km/s, less than 3 times the well-known value of the terminal expansion velocity (14.5 km/s) of the outer envelope. Five of these narrow lines have now been identified as rotational transitions in vibrationally excited states of previously detected molecules: the v=1, J=17--16 and J=19--18 lines of Si34S and 29SiS and the v=2, J=7--6 line of CS. Maps of these lines show that the emission is confined to a region within ~60 AU of the star, indicating that the narrow-line emission is probing the region of dust-formation where the stellar wind is still being accelerated.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

Herschel/HIFI deepens the circumstellar NH3 enigma

Circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of a variety of evolved stars have been found to contain ammonia (NH3) in amounts that exceed predictions from conventional chemical models by many orders of magnitude. The observations reported here were performed in order to better constrain the NH3 abundance in the CSEs of four, quite diverse, oxygen-rich stars using the NH3 ortho J_K = 1_0 - 0_0 ground-state line. We used the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared aboard Herschel to observe the NH3 J_K = 1_0 - 0_0 transition near 572.5 GHz, simultaneously with the ortho-H2O J_Ka,Kc = 1_1,0 -1_0,1 transition, toward VY CMa, OH 26.5+0.6, IRC+10420, and IK Tau. We conducted non-LTE radiative transfer modeling with the goal to derive the NH3 abundance in these objects' CSEs. For the latter two stars, Very Large Array imaging of NH3 radio-wavelength inversion lines were used to provide further constraints, particularly on the spatial extent of the NH3-emitting regions. Results. We find remarkably strong NH3 emission in all of our objects with the NH3 line intensities rivaling those obtained for the ground state H2O line. The NH3 abundances relative to H2 are very high and range from 2 x 10-7 to 3 x 10-6 for the objects we have studied. Our observations confirm and even deepen the circumstellar NH3 enigma. While our radiative transfer modeling does not yield satisfactory fits to the observed line profiles, it leads to abundance estimates that confirm the very high values found in earlier studies. New ways to tackle this mystery will include further Herschel observations of more NH3 lines and imaging with the Expanded Very Large Array.Comment: 4+2 page

A 3D Photoionization Model of the Extreme Planetary Nebula NGC 6302

We present a 3D photoionization model of the PN NGC 6302, one of the most complex objects of its kind. Our Mocassin model is composed of an extremely dense circumstellar disk and a large pair of diffuse bipolar lobes, a combination necessary to reproduce the observed spectrum. The masses of these components gives a total nebular mass of 4.7Mo. Discrepancies between our model fit and the observations are attributed to complex density inhomogeneities in the nebula. The potential to resolve such discrepancies with more complex models is confirmed by a range of models introducing small-scale structures. Compared to solar abundances He is enhanced by 50%, C is slightly subsolar, O is solar, and N is enhanced by a factor of 6. These imply a significant 3rd dredge-up coupled with hot-bottom burning CN-cycle conversion of dredged-up C to N. The central star is partly obscured by the edge-on circumstellar disk and its properties are not well constrained. Emission from a number of high-ionization `coronal' lines provides constraints on the form of the high-energy ionizing flux. Using a solar abundance stellar atmosphere we are unable to fit all of the observed line fluxes, but a substantially better fit was obtained using a 220,000K H-deficient stellar atmosphere with L*=14,300 Lo. The H-deficient nature of the central star suggests it has undergone a late thermal pulse, and fits to evolutionary tracks imply a central star mass of 0.73-0.82Mo. Timescales for these tracks suggest the object left the top of the AGB ~2100 years ago, in agreement with studies of the recent mass-loss event that formed the bipolar lobes. Based on the modelled nebular and central star masses we estimate the initial mass of the central star to be 5.5Mo, in agreement with that derived from evolutionary tracks. (Abstract truncated)Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 10 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA