The identification of HCN and HNC in Carbon Stars: Model Atmospheres, Synthetic Spectra and Fits to Observations in the 2.7-4.0 micron Region

Abstract

Model carbon star atmospheres and synthetic spectra have been calculated using the recent HCN/HNC vibration rotation linelist of Harris et al. (2002) ApJ, 578, 657. The calculations are repeated using only HCN lines and show that HNC has a significant effect upon the temperature, density and optical depth of a stellar atmosphere. We fit synthetic spectra in the 2.7-4.0 micron region to observed ISO spectra of the carbon stars WZ Cas and TX Psc obtained by Aoki et al. (1998), A&A, 340, 222. These fits allow us to identify absorption by HNC in the spectrum of WZ Cas at 2.8-2.9 microns, and to determine new independent estimates of effective temperature and log(Nc)/log(No). The findings reported here indicate that absorption by both HCN and HNC is needed to fully explain the observed stellar spectra and represent the first identification of HNC in a star. Q branch absorption by the HCN $Δv_2=1$, $Δv_3=1$ and $Δv_1=1$, $Δv_2=-1$ bands at 3.55 and 3.86 microns respectively, are identified in the spectrum of WZ Cas.