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B. W. Jiang

Publications and source records attributed to B. W. Jiang.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

On Silicon Carbide Grains as the Carrier of the 21 Micron Emission Feature in Post-Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

The mysterious 21mu emission feature seen in 12 proto-planetary nebulae (PPNe) remains unidentified since its first detection in 1989. Over a dozen of candidate materials have been proposed within the past decade, but none of them has received general acceptance. Very recently, silicon carbide (SiC) grains with impurities were suggested to be the carrier of this enigmatic feature, based on recent laboratory data that doped SiC grains exhibit a resonance at \~21mu. This proposal gains strength from the fact that SiC is a common dust species in carbon-rich circumstellar envelopes. However, SiC dust has a strong vibrational band at ~11.3mu. We show in this Letter that in order to be consistent with the observed flux ratios of the 11.3mu feature to the 21mu feature, the band strength of the 21mu resonance has to be very strong, too strong to be consistent with current laboratory measurements. But this does not yet readily rule out the SiC hypothesis since recent experimental results have demonstrated that the 21mu resonance of doped SiC becomes stronger as the C impurity increases. Further laboratory measurements of SiC dust with high fractions of C impurity are urgently needed to test the hypothesis of SiC as the carrier of the 21mu feature.

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The ISOGAL field FC--01863+00035: Mid-IR interstellar extinction and stellar populations

A 0.35\degr $\times$ 0.29\degr field centered at $l$=--18.63\degr, $b$=0.35\degr was observed during the ISOGAL survey by ISOCAM imaging at 7$μ$m and 15{\rm $μ$m}. 648 objects were detected and their brightness are measured. By combining with the DENIS data in the near-infrared J and K$_{\rm S}$ bands, one derives the extinction at 7{\rm $μ$m} through ${\rm A_{K_{\rm S}}-A_7= 0.35 (A_J-A_{K_{\rm S}})}$ which yields A$_{7}$/A$_{\it V}$ $\sim$0.03 from the near-IR extinction values of van de Hulst--Glass (Glass 1999). The extinction structure along the line of sight is then determined from the values of J--K$_{\rm S}$ or K$_{\rm S}$--[7] of the ISOGAL sources identified as RGB or early AGB stars with mild mass-loss. The distribution of A$_{\it V}$ ranges from 0 to $\sim$45 and it reflects the concentration of the extinction in the spiral arms. Based on their locations in color-magnitude diagrams and a few cross-identifications with IRAS and MSX sources, the nature of objects is discussed in comparison with the case of a low extinction field in Baade's Window. Most of the objects are either AGB stars with moderate mass loss rate or luminous RGB stars. Some of them may be AGB stars with high mass loss rate. In addition, a few young stellar objects (YSOs) are present.

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Relation of SiO maser emission to IR radiation in evolved stars based on the MSX observation

Based on the space MSX observation in bands A(8$μ$m), C(12$μ$m), D(15$μ$m) and E(21$μ$m), and the ground SiO maser observation of evolved stars by the Nobeyama 45-m telescope in the v=1 and v=2 J=1-0 transitions, the relation between SiO maser emission and mid-IR continuum radiation is analyzed. The relation between SiO maser emission and the IR radiation in the MSX bands A, C, D and E is all clearly correlated. The SiO maser emission can be explained by a radiative pumping mechanism according to its correlation with infrared radiation in the MSX band A.

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Period Measurement of AGB Stars in the Outer Galactic Disk

Light variation of the 47 AGB star candidates in the outer Galactic disk has been monitored at I-band for 5 years. Periods were determined well for 18 of them and less reliably for the other 25. The average period of the objects is then 500 days. According to the period-luminosity relation, the mean luminosity of the sample stars is 10000 $\LO$. Based on the absolute luminosity derived from the period-luminosity relation and the apparent luminosity from the observation, the distances to the objects are determined. The distances calculated are slightly greater than those obtained previously on the assumption of constant luminosity of 8000 $\LO$. In addition, SiO maser emission was detected for most of the observed objects so that their radial velocities were known accurately. With the assumption of circular rotation in the Galactic disk, the rotation curve and Oort's constants were derived.

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IRAS 03313+6058: an AGB star with 30 micron emission

This paper reports a detection of the 30 micron emission feature from the C-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) star IRAS 03313+6058 based on the ISO-SWS observation. Modeling of the spectral energy distribution shows that this emission starts at about 20 micron and possibly extends to the limit (45 micron) of the observation. By assuming MgS as the carrier, the number ratio of Sulfur atom in MgS to Hydrogen atom in total, n(S)/n(H), is 3. 10{-6} from model fitting. A comparison of this emission feature is made with other AGB and post-AGB objects.

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