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The Envelope of IRC+10216 Seen at High Angular Resolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2016

Nicolas Mauron
Affiliation:
Groupe d'Astrophysique, CNRS and Université de Montpellier, Place Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France
Patrick J. Huggins
Affiliation:
Physics Department, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York NY 10003, USA

Abstract

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Deep optical images of the circumstellar envelope of IRC+10216 have been obtained with CFHT and HST, with angular resolutions of 1 and 0.1, respectively. In the outer regions, the envelope is seen in dust-scattered galactic light, and is detected up to ∼200 from the star, corresponding to 8000 years of expansion. The envelope is composed of discrete, nearly circular, thin, limb-brightened shells. These shells are spaced at irregular intervals, and the shell/intershell density contrast is typically 3. Although the HST observations show a distinct bipolar geometry very near the star, the global shell pattern suggests a roughly isotropic, episodic mass loss mechanism.

Type
Stars and Stellar Atmospheres
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2001 

References

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