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Review of recent research on the possibility of detecting the infrared electronic transition of aluminum oxide in the spectra of cool stars. It is shown that this transition may be of considerable significance for the study of Mira-type variables. Specific targets of further laboratory investigation of the transition are pointed out.
The extent of the long-period variable infrared-emitting object IRC+10011 has been measured at 2.2, 10, and 20 microns, taking advantage of two lunar occultation this object has recently undergone. At 10 and 20 microns, the bulk of the radiation is found to come from an optically thick dust region about 0.1 sec in diameter. At 2.2 microns, the dominant source of radiation is the central Mira star, but the inner part of the dust shell is also visible.
The recently discovered strong emission lines at 86.24 GHz from the J = 2-1 rotational transition of SiO in its first excited vibrational state have been found to be a maser source associated with infrared stars. Twelve maser sources have been detected, and almost all are late M-type Mira or semiregular variables. Many of the known OH/H2O/IR sources are also SiO maser sources, and good velocity correlations between SiO and H2O emission profiles were found. Characteristics of these new SiO maser sources are discussed.
Results are reported for spectral-line very long baseline interferometric observations of the following II OH/IR objects, which emit strong 1612-MHz OH maser radiation concentrated at two velocities: NML Cyg, R Aql, IRC+10011, IRC-10529, and OH 1837-05. The apparent angular sizes were obtained for NML Cyg and R Aql, and lower limits upon the apparent sizes were obtained for the other objects. The data for NML Cyg agree with previous size determinations and indicate that the low- and high-velocity components are separated by about 20 times their apparent size. The maser component of R Aql is calculated within a factor of two to be about 5 by 10 to the 14th power cm, although the emitting region can be significantly larger. A qualitative description is given for II OH/IR objects with late M-type Mira variable center stars and circumstellar dust shells of similar dimensions.
A program is discussed which involved monitoring the photometric activity of 18 bright variable IR stars at 2.7 microns with satellite- and rocket-borne instrumentation in the period from 1971 to 1975. The stellar sample includes 3 Lb variables, 8 semiregular variables, 5 Mira-type variables, and 2 previously unknown and unclassified IR variables. Detailed light curves of many of these stars were determined for intervals of 3 yr or more; spectra from 2.7 to 20 microns were constructed for nine of them using data obtained entirely with instruments above the atmosphere. Photometric IR light curves and other data are presented for SW Virginis, R Aquilae, S Scuti, IRC 00265, RT Hydrae, S Orionis, S Canis Minoris, Omicron Ceti, and R Leonis. Several hypotheses concerning the interpretation of the IR data are examined.
When a system goes from a saturated state to a supersaturated one, the classical nucleation-rate formula is not instantly valid; rather, the nucleation rate relaxes exponentially (with a characteristic time - the time lag) to the value given by the steady-state formula. Under some circumstances, particularly those found in some cool stellar atmospheres, the time lag can be quite long and a decisve factor in determining the possibility of particle formation. Carbon condensation in the atmospheres of Mira variables is considered and found to be unlikely on the basis of classical nucleation theory because of the long time lags involved, unless the parameters describing the physical conditions in these atmospheres are significantly different from current estimates.
A simple curve-of-growth technique is described for extracting the C-12/C-13 ratio for M stars from high-resolution spectra of CO infrared vibration-rotation lines. The technique is applied to the CO lines at 1.6 and 2.3 microns in spectra of two M supergiants (Alpha Ori and Alpha Sco), two M giants (Alpha Her and Beta Peg), and a Mira-type variable (Chi Cyg). As a check on the CO analysis, the C-12/C-13 ratio is derived from the red CN system at 8000 A for Alpha Sco, Alpha Ori, and Beta Peg. The CO analysis is also applied to the K giant Alpha Boo as a check. The CN and CO results are found to be in general agreement, and the C-12/C-13 ratio in all the examined stars is shown to be considerably lower than the solar-system value. It is suggested that these stars were formed from clouds with a C-12/C-13 ratio of 40 to 89 and that their atmospheres now exhibit an enhancement of C-13 abundance due to internal production and mixing to the surface.
We have found that the rate of mass loss M increases with an increase in the period of pulsation for Mira-type variables. This result suggests that the rate of mass loss is accelerated with time until a maximum value is reached before the ejection of the outer envelope. The matter from the continuous mass loss during the evolution of the star produces supersonic shock waves that sweep up the interstellar gas upon encountering the interstellar medium, so that a shell is formed. This phenomenon may account for the observations of extended regions of emission that surround planetary nebulae.
Preliminary results are reported for satellite observations of about 1000 IR sources at a wavelength of 2.7 microns. The observations were made in the declination zone between +10 and -10 deg to a limiting flux of 4 by 10 to the -16th power W/sq cm per micron. Of 83 previously unobserved sources, twenty are identified with late-type stars having visual magnitudes of 6 to 9. The nine sources with available luminosity classifications are found to be giant stars, and flux densities at 2.2 and 3.6 microns are predicted for four unreddened stars among these. Three other detected sources are positively identified with red variable stars; twenty more are tentatively identified as such. It is suggested that some of the 40 blank-field 2.7-micron sources detected at high galactic latitude may be Mira variables with thick dust shells located at large distances from the galactic plane.
Seven Mira variable stars with silicon monoxide maser emission have been found. All are later than M4 and heavily reddened. Two were observed near maximum light. One, Y Cas, seems to bear out the correlation of 43-GHz SiO maser luminosity and mean spectral type at maximum light. RT Aql, however, falls about 1 mag below the expected brightness. A catalog of SiO maser stars is given.
The 14.9-GHz continuum flux densities of the M-type stars Alpha Ori, R Aql, and R Aqr have been measured. For Alpha Ori and R Aql it is suggested that the emission at this frequency is primarily due to ionized gas associated with stellar chromospheres or coronae. For R Aqr a model consistent with available data is proposed in which the variable intensity of the radio emission depends on a variable mass-loss rate for the Mira.
Properties of circumstellar dust shells are examined by heterodyne spatial interferometry at 11-micron wavelength. Over the course of the past two years, observations have been made for ten different sources including various M-type supergiants, Mira variables, and other peculiar infrared stars. These objects exhibit a variety of features which help determine the properties of circumstellar dust. The results obtained on four of these objects, for which the data are reasonably extensive, are presented. The future of IR heterodyne interferometry is highlighted.
Instabilities of pulsating variable stars, such as Cepheid variables, Cepheid masses, early-type variable stars, White Dwarfs, and Mira variables, are discussed.
Simultaneous far-infrared, near-infrared, and radio observations have been made of five infrared stars which show OH maser emission at 1612 MHz. These stars have very thick circumstellar dust shells and are not seen optically. The data permit a direct comparison of the far-infrared and maser emission from these sources, which strongly supports the hypothesis that the maser emission is pumped by 35 micron photons. A comparison with data obtained at earlier epochs suggests that the maser emission is saturated. The infrared and radio data are used together with estimates of the source distances to determine the luminosities and mass loss rates for these objects. The luminosities lie in the range 2000-30,000 solar luminosities and are consistent with either Mira variable or M supergiant classifications for the underlying stars. The estimated mass loss rates lie between 0.000005-0.00007 solar mass/year.
Low resolution IUE spectra in both spectral regions are used to clarify the nature of the warmer components of several binary systems. The W Cep, the primary of which is a luminous K-type supergiant, shows an ultraviolet absorption spectrum of type B0 or B1; this system is heavily reddened. The hot companion of Mira (o Cet) is surprisingly faint in the short wavelength region, but it excites a rich emission spectrum from the surrounding gas. The ultraviolet active M7 giant CH Cyg is shown to be a binary with a hot companion. This system was also observed at high resolution and shows variable Fe II emission and well-separated circumstellar and interstellar absorptions within the broad Mg II emission profiles. The eclipsing binaries AR Mon and BL Tel are shown not to have hot companions.
The four basic mechanisms that have been proposed for explaining the acceleration of winds in late-type stars are thermal pressure gradients, radiation pressure on circumstellar dust grains, momentum addition by Alfven waves, and momentum addition by periodic shock waves. Recent work in applying these mechanisms to stars is reviewed, with consideration given to whether these mechanisms can work, even in principle, and whether they are consistent with recent ultraviolet and X-ray data from the IUE and Einstein spacecraft. It is noted that thermally driven winds are likely important for late-type dwarfs, where the mass loss rates are small, and perhaps also in G giants and supergiants, but they cannot operate alone in the K and M giants and supergiants. It is thought that radiatively driven winds are probably unimportant for all cool stars, even the M supergiants with dusty circumstellar envelopes. In principle, Alfven waves can accelerate winds to high speeds so long as the field lines are initially open or forced open by some mechanism, but detailed calculations are needed. It is noted that, for the Miras and semiregular variable supergiants, periodic shock waves provide a simple way of producing rapid mass loss.
Exposures on the spectra of four late C-type stars have been made with the IUE satellite in the wavelength range of the LWR camera (1900-3200 A). Two Mira variables near maximum light and two semiregular variables were observed. Although the exposure times used, which range up to 240 min in the low-resolution mode, were more than sufficient to record the continuum and emission lines of Mg II, Fe II, and Al II in normal M stars of similar magnitude and temperature, no light was recorded. It is concluded that the far-ultraviolet continuum is strongly depressed in these cool carbon stars. The absence of UV emission lines implies either that the chromospheric lines observed in M stars require an ultraviolet flux for their excitation, or that cool carbon stars have no chromosphere at all or that the opacity source is located above even the emission-line-forming region. This opacity source, which is probably some carbon condensate since it is weak or absent in M stars while absorbing strongly in C stars, is discussed both in terms of the chromospheric interpretation of the emission lines and in terms of their shock-wave interpretation.
Observations of the variable star R Aquarii from 1928 to the present are examined to conclude that the star is a binary system with a jet. The orbital period of the objects is estimated at 22 yr, and a supercritical mass transfer that occurs once every 44 yr is suggested as a mechanism to explain deep minima observed on two occasions that many years apart. Calculations presented for the critical accretion rate of the two Miras indicated that one of the objects possesses a substantially stronger gravitational field than the other and features a large accretion disk. Oriental astronomical records from 930 AD are cited as evidence that a nova occurred in the vicinity of R Aquarii at that time. The system is noted to be the closest jet thus far observed, and the accretion disk may be visible with the Space Telescope.