203 research outputs found
Water in Emission in the ISO Spectrum of the Early M Supergiant Star mu Cephei
We report a detection of water in emission in the spectrum of the M2
supergiant atar mu Cep (M2Ia) observed by the Short Wavelength Spectrometer
(SWS) aboard Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and now released as the ISO
Archives. The emission first appears in the 6 micron region (nu2 fundamental)
and then in the 40 micron region (pure rotation lines) despite the rather
strong dust emission. The intensity ratios of the emission features are far
from those of the optically thin gaseous emission. Instead, we could reproduce
the major observed emission features by an optically thick water sphere of the
inner radius about two stellar radii (1300Rsun), Tex = 1500K, and Ncol (H2O) =
3.0E+20/cm2. This model also accounts for the H2O absorption bands in the near
infrared (1.4, 1.9, and 2.7 micron) as well. The detection of water in emission
provides strong constraints on the nature of water in the early M supergiant
stars, and especially its origin in the outer atmosphere is confirmed against
other models such as the large convective cell model. We finally confirm that
the early M supergiant star is surrounded by a huge optically thick sphere of
the warm water vapor, which may be referred to as MOLsphere for simplicity.
Thus, the outer atmosphere of M supergiant stars should have a complicated
hierarchical and/or hybrid structure with at least three major constituents
including the warm MOLsphere (T about 1.0E+3K) together with the previously
known hot chromosphere (T about 1.0E+4K) and cool expanding gas-dust envelope
(T about 1.0E+2K).Comment: 14 pages, 5 postscript figures, to appear in ApJ
Detection of H2 pure rotational line emission from the GG~Tau binary system
We present the first detection of the low-lying pure rotational emission
lines of H2 from circumstellar disks around T~Tauri stars, using the Short
Wavelength Spectrometer on the Infrared Space Observatory. These lines provide
a direct measure of the total amount of warm molecular gas in disks. The J=2->0
S(0) line at 28.218 mum and the J=3->1 S(1) line at 17.035 mum have been
observed toward the double binary system GG Tau. Together with limits on the
J=5->3 S(3) and J=7->5 S(5) lines, the data suggest the presence of gas at
T_kin=110+-10 K with a mass of (3.6+-2.0)x10^-3 M_sol (3sigma). This amounts to
~3% of the total gas + dust mass of the circumbinary disk as imaged by
millimeter interferometry, but is larger than the estimated mass of the
circumstellar disk(s). Possible origins for the warm gas seen in H2 are
discussed in terms of photon and wind-shock heating mechanisms of the
circumbinary material, and comparisons with model calculations are made.Comment: 14 pages including 1 figure. To appear in Astrophysical Journal
Letter
Identification of SH ro-vibrational lines in R And
We report the identification of SH ro-vibrational lines in the
published high-resolution infrared spectrum of the S-type star, R And. This is
the first astronomical detection of this molecule. The lines show inverse
P-Cygni profiles, indicating infall motion of the molecular layer due to
stellar pulsation. A simple spherical shell model with a constant infall
velocity is adopted to determine the condition of the layer. It is found that a
single excitation temperature of 2200 K reproduces the observed line
intensities satisfactory. SH is located in a layer from 1.0 to ~1.1 stellar
radii, which is moving inward with a velocity of 9 km s-1. These results are
consistent with the previous measurements of CO transitions. The
estimated molecular abundance SH/H is 1x10^-7, consistent with a thermal
equilibrium calculation.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
The infrared spectrum of the Be star gamma Cassiopeiae
We present the 2.4-45 micrometer ISO-SWS spectrum of the Be star gamma Cas
(B0.5 IVe). The spectrum is characterised by a thermal continuum which can be
well fit by a power-law S_nu ~ nu^0.99 over the entire SWS wavelength range.
For an isothermal disc of ionized gas with constant opening angle, this
correponds to a density gradient rho(r) ~ r^(-2.8). We report the detection of
the Humphreys bound-free jump in emission at 3.4 micrometer. The size of the
jump is sensitive to the electron temperature of the gas in the disc, and we
find T~9000 K, i.e. much lower than the stellar effective temperature
(25000-30000 K). The spectrum is dominated by numerous emission lines, mostly
from HI, but also some HeI lines are detected. Several spectral features cannot
be identified. The line strengths of the HI{\sc i} emission lines do not follow
case B recombination line theory. The line strengths and widths suggest that
many lines are optically thick and come from an inner, high density region with
radius 3-5 R_star and temperature above that of the bulk of the disc material.
Only the alpha, beta and gamma transitions of the series lines contain a
contribution from the outer regions. The level populations deviate
significantly from LTE and are highly influenced by the optically thick, local
(disc) continuum radiation field. The inner disk may be rotating more rapidly
than the stellar photosphere.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure, accepted by A&
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