CO observations of the expanding envelope of IRC plus 10216

High-sensitivity emission profiles were observed for the transition of C12O16 and C13O16 towards IRC + or - 10216. It appears that the spherically symmetric uniform mass-outflow model proposed by Morris is necessary to describe the line profiles. The outflow appears to be slightly accelerated, having a velocity of 15 km/sec at the edges of the CO cloud, compared with 12 km/sec for the more centrally confined molecules

Circumstellar shells and mass loss rates: Clues to the evolution of S stars

It is the purpose of this paper to rediscuss the circumstellar properties of S stars and to put these properties in perspective with our current understanding of the evolutionary status of S stars, in particular the intrinsic/extrinsic dichotomy. Accordingly, an extensive data set probing the circumstellar environment of S stars (IRAS flux densities, maser emission, CO rotational lines) has been collected and critically evaluated. This data set combines new observations (9 stars have been observed in the CO J=2-1 line and 3 in the CO J=3-2 line, with four new detections) with existing material (all CO and maser observations of S stars published in the literature). The IRAS flux densities of S stars have been re-evaluated by co-adding the individual scans, in order to better handle the intrinsic variability of these stars in the IRAS bands, and possible contamination by Galactic cirrus. Mass loss rates or upper limits have been derived for all S stars observed in the CO rotational lines, and range from < 2 10^{-8} Msun y^{-1} for extrinsic S stars to 10^{-5} Msun y^{-1}. These mass-loss rates correlate well with the K - [12] color index, which probes the dust loss rate, provided that the mass loss rate be larger than 10^{-8} Msun~y^{-1}. Small mass-loss rates are found for extrinsic S stars, consistent with their not being so evolved (RGB or Early-AGB) as the Tc-rich S stars. This result does not support the claim often made in relation with symbiotic stars that binarity strongly enhances the mass-loss rate.Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics Suppl., 40 pages, 22 figures, 6 tables (LaTeX). Also available at: http://astro.ulb.ac.be/Htm/ps.ht

Measurement of the sizes of circumstellar dust shells around evolved stars with high mass loss rates

The research supported by the NASA ADP contract NAG5-1153 has been completed. The attached paper, which will be submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal in January 1992, presents the results of this work. Here is a summary of the project and its results. A set of computer programs was developed to process the raw 60 micron and 100 micron IRAS survey data. The programs were designed to detect faint extended emission surrounding a bright unresolved source. Candidate objects were chosen from a list of red giant stars and young planetary nebulae which have been detected in millimeter/submillimeter lines of CO. Of the 279 stars examined, 55 were resolved at 60 microns. The principle results of the study are given. The average age for the shells surrounding the 9 Mira-type stars which are extended is 6 x 10(exp 4) yr. This suggests that the period during which these stars lose mass lasts for approx 10(exp 5) yr. The oldest shell found surrounds U Ori, and the youngest surrounds Mira itself. Some shells appear to be detached from the central star. This phenomenon is more common among older stars, suggesting that the mass loss becomes more episodic as the star sheds its envelope. Although all 8 stars less distant than 200 pc are resolved in the IRAS 60 micron data, 29 stars within 500 pc were not. These stars probably have younger circumstellar shells than those which were resolved. Almost all the carbon stars with distances of 500 pc or less have resolved shells, while only 1/2 of the oxygen-rich stars do. The resolved carbon star shells also are older on average than the oxygen-rich ones. These facts imply that carbon stars have been losing mass for a longer period, on average, than oxygen-rich red giants. Large circumstellar shells tend to be found at large distances from the galactic plane, confirming that the ISM density limits the size to which a dust shell can grow. Surprisingly, even very large shells seem to be nearly spherical, and do not appear to be distorted by ram-pressure caused by the star's motion with respect to the ISM. Radiative transfer models and the value of I sub 60 microns/I sub 100 microns allow the average dust temperature in the outer regions of a circumstellar shell to be estimated. The typical value obtained in about 35 K

An Institutional Framework for Heterogeneous Formal Development in UML

We present a framework for formal software development with UML. In contrast to previous approaches that equip UML with a formal semantics, we follow an institution based heterogeneous approach. This can express suitable formal semantics of the different UML diagram types directly, without the need to map everything to one specific formalism (let it be first-order logic or graph grammars). We show how different aspects of the formal development process can be coherently formalised, ranging from requirements over design and Hoare-style conditions on code to the implementation itself. The framework can be used to verify consistency of different UML diagrams both horizontally (e.g., consistency among various requirements) as well as vertically (e.g., correctness of design or implementation w.r.t. the requirements)

A Broad Search for Counterrotating Gas and Stars: Evidence for Mergers and Accretion

We measure the frequency of bulk gas-stellar counterrotation in a sample of 67 galaxies drawn from the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey, a broadly representative survey of the local galaxy population down to M_B-15. We detect 4 counterrotators among 17 E/S0's with extended gas emission (24% +8 -6). In contrast, we find no clear examples of bulk counterrotation among 38 Sa-Sbc spirals, although one Sa does show peculiar gas kinematics. This result implies that, at 95% confidence, no more than 8% of Sa-Sbc spirals are bulk counterrotators. Among types Sc and later, we identify only one possible counterrotator, a Magellanic irregular. We use these results together with the physical properties of the counterrotators to constrain possible origins for this phenomenon.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, AJ, accepte