Mid-infrared imaging of AGB star envelopes. II. Modelling of observed sources

Abstract

Radiative transfer modelling of AGB circumstellar envelopes is applied to a sample of AGB stars previously observed with the mid-IR imaging camera TIRCAM (Busso et al. 1996: Paper I). We present the results of our simulations, aimed at deriving the physical parameters of the envelope, such as the optical depth and the radial thermal structure, the mass loss and the dust-to-gas mass ratio. The chemical composition of the dust in the observed envelopes is discussed. The ability of different sets of dust opacities to fit the mid-infrared spectra is evaluated. The hypothesis of dust grain aging and annealing in O-rich envelopes is considered in order to explain an apparent inadequacy of the availabe opacities to describe the variety of observed spectra, as previously noted by other authors. Various possible origins of the discrepancies are discussed, together with their consequences on the dust grain formation processes.