arXiv subjects

Raghvendra Sahai

Publications and source records attributed to Raghvendra Sahai.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

A molecular-line study of the interstellar bullet engine IRAS 05506+2414

We present interferometric and single-dish molecular line observations of the interstellar bullet-outflow source IRAS 05506+2414, whose wide-angle bullet spray is similar to the Orion BN/KL explosive outflow and likely arises from an entirely different mechanism than the classical accretion-disk-driven bipolar flows in young stellar objects. The bullet-outflow source is associated with a large pseudo-disk and three molecular outflows -- a high-velocity outflow (HVO), a medium-velocity outflow (MVO), and a slow, extended outflow (SEO). The size (mass) of the pseudo-disk is 10,350 AU x 6,400 AU (0.64-0.17 Msun); from a model-fit assuming infall and rotation we derive a central stellar mass of 8--19 Msun. The HVO (MVO) has an angular size ~5180 (~3330) AU, and a projected outflow velocity of ~140 km/s (~30 km/s). The SEO size (outflow speed) is ~0.9 pc (~6 km/s). The HVO's axis is aligned with (orthogonal to) that of the SEO (pseudo-disk). The velocity structure of the MVO is unresolved. The scalar momenta in the HVO and SEO are very similar, suggesting that the SEO has resulted from the HVO interacting with ambient cloud material. The bullet spray shares a common axis with the pseudo-disk, and has an age comparable to that of MVO (few hundred years), suggesting that these three structures are intimately linked together. We discuss several models for the outflows in IRAS 05506+2414 (including dynamical decay of a stellar cluster, chance encounter of a runaway star with a dense cloud, and close passage of two protostars), and conclude that 2nd-epoch imaging to derive proper motions of the bullets and nearby stars can help to discriminate between them.

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arXiv2017

The Herschel Planetary Nebula Survey (HerPlaNS) - a comprehensive dusty photoionization model of NGC6781

We perform a comprehensive analysis of the planetary nebula (PN) NGC6781 to investigate the physical conditions of each of its ionized, atomic, and molecular gas and dust components and the object's evolution, based on panchromatic observational data ranging from UV to radio. Empirical nebular elemental abundances, compared with theoretical predictions via nucleosynthesis models of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, indicate that the progenitor is a solar-metallicity, 2.25-3.0 Msun initial-mass star. We derive the best-fit distance of 0.46 kpc by fitting the stellar luminosity (as a function of the distance and effective temperature of the central star) with the adopted post-AGB evolutionary tracks. Our excitation energy diagram analysis indicate high excitation temperatures in the photodissociation region (PDR) beyond the ionized part of the nebula, suggesting extra heating by shock interactions between the slow AGB wind and the fast PN wind. Through iterative fitting using the Cloudy code with empirically-derived constraints, we find the best-fit dusty photoionization model of the object that would inclusively reproduce all of the adopted panchromatic observational data. The estimated total gas mass (0.41 Msun) corresponds to the mass ejected during the last AGB thermal pulse event predicted for a 2.5 Msun initial-mass star. A significant fraction of the total mass (about 70 percent) is found to exist in the PDR, demonstrating the critical importance of the PDR in PNe that are generally recognized as the hallmark of ionized/H+ regions.

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arXiv2017

The large-scale nebular pattern of a superwind binary in an eccentric orbit

Preplanetary nebulae and planetary nebulae are evolved, mass-losing stellar objects that show a wide variety of morphologies. Many of these nebulae consist of outer structures that are nearly spherical (spiral/shell/arc/halo) and inner structures that are highly asymmetric (bipolar/multipolar). The coexistence of such geometrically distinct structures is enigmatic because it hints at the simultaneous presence of both wide and close binary interactions, a phenomenon that has been attributed to stellar binary systems with eccentric orbits. Here we report new high-resolution molecular-line observations of the circumstellar spiral-shell pattern of AFGL 3068, an asymptotic giant branch star transitioning to the preplanetary nebula phase. The observations clearly reveal that the dynamics of the mass loss is influenced by the presence of an eccentric-orbit binary. This quintessential object opens a new window on the nature of deeply embedded binary stars through the circumstellar spiral-shell patterns that reside at distances of several thousand Astronomical Units from the stars.

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arXiv2014

The astrosphere of the Asymptotic Giant Branch star CIT 6

We have discovered two extended half-ring structures in a far-ultraviolet image taken with the GALEX satellite of the well-known mass-losing carbon star CIT 6 (RW LMi). The northern (southern) ring is brighter (fainter) with a diameter of about 15 arcmin (18 arcmin). These structures most likely represent the astrosphere resulting from the shock interaction of CIT 6's molecular wind with the Warm Interstellar Medium, as it moves through the latter. These data provide a direct estimate of the size of CIT 6's circumstellar envelope that is a factor ~20 larger than previous estimates based on CO millimeter-wave line data. We find that CIT 6 has been undergoing heavy mass-loss for at least 93,000 yr and the total envelope mass is 0.29 Msun or larger, assuming a constant mass-loss rate of 3.2 x 10^(-6) Msun/yr. Assuming that the shock front has reached a steady-state and CIT 6's motion relative to the ISM is in the sky-plane, we measure the termination-shock standoff distance directly from the image and find that CIT 6 is moving at a speed of about 39 (0.17 cm^(-3)/n_ISM)^(1/2) km/s through the interstellar medium around it. However, comparisons with published numerical simulations and analytical modelling shows that CIT 6's forward shock (the northern ring) departs from the parabolic shape expected in steady-state. We discuss several possible explanations for this departure.

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arXiv2013

Multiple Fast Molecular Outflows in the PPN CRL 618

CRL 618 is a well-studied pre-planetary nebula. It has multiple highly collimated optical lobes, fast molecular outflows along the optical lobes, and an extended molecular envelope that consists of a dense torus in the equator and a tenuous round halo. Here we present our observations of this source in CO J=3-2 and HCN J=4-3 obtained with the Submillimeter Array at up to ~ 0.3" resolutions. We spatially resolve the fast molecular-outflow region previously detected in CO near the central star and find it to be composed of multiple outflows that have similar dynamical ages, and are oriented along the different optical lobes. We also detect fast molecular outflows further away from the central star near the tips of the extended optical lobes and a pair of equatorial outflows inside the dense torus. We find that two episodes of bullet ejections in different directions are needed, one producing the fast molecular outflows near the central star, and one producing the fast molecular outflows near the tips of the extended optical lobes. One possibility to launch these bullets is the magneto-rotational explosion of the stellar envelope.

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arXiv2013

Mapping the Central Region of the PPN CRL 618 at Sub-arcsecond Resolution at 350 GHz

CRL 618 is a well-studied pre-planetary nebula. We have mapped its central region in continuum and molecular lines with the Submillimeter Array at 350 GHz at ~ 0.3" to 0.5" resolutions. Two components are seen in 350 GHz continuum: (1) a compact emission at the center tracing the dense inner part of the H II region previously detected in 23 GHz continuum and it may trace a fast ionized wind at the base, and (2) an extended thermal dust emission surrounding the H II region, tracing the dense core previously detected in HC3N at the center of the circumstellar envelope. The dense core is dusty and may contain mm-sized dust grains. It may have a density enhancement in the equatorial plane. It is also detected in carbon chain molecules HC3N and HCN, and their isotopologues, with higher excitation lines tracing closer to the central star. It is also detected in C2H3CN toward the innermost part. Most of the emission detected here arises within ~ 630 AU (~0.7") from the central star. A simple radiative transfer model is used to derive the kinematics, physical conditions, and the chemical abundances in the dense core. The dense core is expanding and accelerating, with the velocity increasing roughly linearly from ~ 3 km/s in the innermost part to ~ 16 km/s at 630 AU. The mass-loss rate in the dense core is extremely high with a value of ~ 1.15x10^{-3} solar mass per year. The dense core has a mass of ~ 0.47 solar mass and a dynamical age of ~ 400 yrs. It could result from a recent enhanced heavy mass-loss episode that ends the AGB phase. The isotopic ratios of 12C/13C and 14N/15N are 9$\pm$4 and 150$\pm50$, respectively, both lower than the solar values.

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arXiv2012

IRAS 19520+2759: a 10^5 Lsun massive young stellar object driving a collimated outflow

The theory of massive star formation currently suffers from a scarce observational base of massive young stellar objects to compare with. In this paper, we present OVRO CO(1-0), 13CO(1-0), C18O(1-0), and 2.6 mm continuum images of the infrared source IRAS 19520+2759 together with complementary single-dish observations of CS(1-0), obtained with the 34m antenna DSS-54 at the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex, as well as archive images at different wavelengths. As a result from our work, IRAS 19520+2759, with a controversial nature in the past, is firmly established as a massive young stellar object associated with a strong and compact millimetre source and driving a collimated outflow. In addition, a second fainter millimetre source is discovered about 4 arcsec to the south, which is also driving an outflow. Furthermore, the two millimetre sources are associated with C18O clumps elongated perpendicularly to the outflows, which may be related to rotating toroids. The masses of gas and dust of the millimetre sources are estimated to be around 100 and 50 Msun. MM1, the dominant source at all wavelengths, with a total luminosity of (1-2)x10^5 Lsun at 9 kpc, is however not associated with 6 cm emission down to a rms noise level of 0.1 mJy. We propose that IRAS 19520+2759 could be an example of the recent theoretical prediction of `bloated' or `swollen' star, i.e., a massive young stellar object whose radius has increased due to effects of accretion at a high-mass accretion rate.

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arXiv2012

From Bipolar to Elliptical: Simulating the Morphological Evolution of Planetary Nebulae

The majority of Proto-planetary nebulae (PPN) are observed to have bipolar morphologies. The majority of mature PN are observed to have elliptical shapes. In this paper we address the evolution of PPN/PN morphologies attempting to understand if a transition from strongly bipolar to elliptical shape can be driven by changes in the parameters of the mass loss process. To this end we present 2.5D hydrodynamical simulations of mass loss at the end stages of stellar evolution for intermediate mass stars. We track changes in wind velocity, mass loss rate and mass loss geometry. In particular we focus on the transition from mass loss dominated by a short duration jet flow (driven during the PPN phase) to mass loss driven by a spherical fast wind (produced by the central star of the PN). We address how such changes in outflow characteristics can change the nebula from a bipolar to an elliptical morphology. Our results show that including a period of jet formation in the temporal sequence of PPN to PN produces realistic nebular synthetic emission geometries. More importantly such a sequence provides insight, in principle, into the apparent difference in morphology statistics characterizing PPN and PN systems. In particular we find that while jet driven PPN can be expected to be dominated by bipolar morphologies, systems that begin with a jet but are followed by a spherical fast wind will evolve into elliptical nebulae. Furthermore, we find that spherical nebulae are highly unlikely to ever derive from either bipolar PPN or elliptical PN.

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arXiv2011

Strong Variable Ultraviolet Emission from Y Gem: Accretion Activity in an AGB Star with a Binary Companion?

Binarity is believed to dramatically affect the history and geometry of mass loss in AGB and post-AGB stars, but observational evidence of binarity is sorely lacking. As part of a project to look for hot binary companions to cool AGB stars using the GALEX archive, we have discovered a late-M star, Y Gem, to be a source of strong and variable UV emission. Y Gem is a prime example of the success of our technique of UV imaging of AGB stars in order to search for binary companions. Y Gem's large and variable UV flux makes it one of the most prominent examples of a late AGB star with a mass accreting binary companion. The UV emission is most likely due to emission associated with accretion activity and a disk around a main-sequence companion star. The physical mechanism generating the UV emission is extremely energetic, with an integrated luminosity of a few L(sun) at its peak. We also find weak CO J=2-1 emission from Y Gem with a very narrow line profile (FWHM of 3.4 km/s). Such a narrow line is unlikely to arise in an outflow, and is consistent with emission from an orbiting, molecular reservoir of radius 300 AU. Y Gem may be the progenitor of the class of post-AGB stars which are binaries and possess disks but no outflows.

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arXiv2011

Young Planetary Nebulae: Hubble Space Telescope Imaging and a New Morphological Classification System

Using Hubble Space Telescope images of 119 young planetary nebulae, most of which have not previously been published, we have devised a comprehensive morphological classification system for these objects. This system generalizes a recently devised system for pre-planetary nebulae, which are the immediate progenitors of planetary nebulae (PNs). Unlike previous classification studies, we have focussed primarily on young PNs rather than all PNs, because the former best show the influences or symmetries imposed on them by the dominant physical processes operating at the first and primary stage of the shaping process. Older PNs develop instabilities, interact with the ambient interstellar medium, and are subject to the passage of photoionization fronts, all of which obscure the underlying symmetries and geometries imposed early on. Our classification system is designed to suffer minimal prejudice regarding the underlying physical causes of the different shapes and structures seen in our PN sample, however, in many cases, physical causes are readily suggested by the geometry, along with the kinematics that have been measured in some systems. Secondary characteristics in our system such as ansae indicate the impact of a jet upon a slower-moving, prior wind; a waist is the signature of a strong equatorial concentration of matter, whether it be outflowing or in a bound Keplerian disk, and point symmetry indicates a secular trend, presumably precession, in the orientation of the central driver of a rapid, collimated outflow.

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arXiv2010

From Bipolar to Elliptical: Morphological Changes in the Temporal Evolution of PN

Proto-planetary nebulae (pPN) and planetary nebulae (PN) seem to be formed by interacting winds from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. The observational issue that most pPN are bipolar but most older PN are elliptical is addressed. We present 2.5D hydrodynamical numerical simulations of episodic cooling interacting winds to investigate the long term evolution of PN morphologies. We track wind acceleration, decrease in mass-loss and episodic change in wind geometry from spherical (AGB) to collimated (pPN) and back to spherical again (PN). This outflow sequence is found to produce realistic PN dynamics and morphological histories. Effects from different AGB distributions and jet duty cycles are also investigated.

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arXiv2010

Galactic bulge giants: probing stellar and galactic evolution I. Catalogue of Spitzer IRAC and MIPS sources

Aims: We aim at measuring mass-loss rates and the luminosities of a statistically large sample of Galactic bulge stars at several galactocentric radii. The sensitivity of previous infrared surveys of the bulge has been rather limited, thus fundamental questions for late stellar evolution, such as the stage at which substantial mass-loss begins on the red giant branch and its dependence on fundamental stellar properties, remain unanswered. We aim at providing evidence and answers to these questions. Methods: To this end, we observed seven 15 times 15 arcmin^2 fields in the nuclear bulge and its vicinity with unprecedented sensitivity using the IRAC and MIPS imaging instruments on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope. In each of the fields, tens of thousands of point sources were detected. Results: In the first paper based on this data set, we present the observations, data reduction, the final catalogue of sources, and a detailed comparison to previous mid-IR surveys of the Galactic bulge, as well as to theoretical isochrones. We find in general good agreement with other surveys and the isochrones, supporting the high quality of our catalogue.

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arXiv2010

The Astrosphere of the Asymptotic Giant Branch Star Irc+10216

We have discovered a very extended shock structure (i.e., with a diameter of about 24 arcmin) surrounding the well-known carbon star IRC+10216 in ultraviolet images taken with the GALEX satellite. We conclude that this structure results from the interaction of IRC+10216's molecular wind with the interstellar medium (ISM), as it moves through the latter. All important structural features expected from theoretical models of such interactions are identified: the termination shock, the astrosheath, the astropause, the bowshock, and an astrotail (with vortices). The extent of the astropause provides new lower limits to the envelope age (69,000 years) and mass (1.4 solar masses, for a mass-loss rate of 2 x 10^(-5) solar masses/year). From the termination-shock standoff distance, we find that IRC+10216 is moving at a speed of about > 91 km/s [1 cm^(-3)/n_(ISM)]^1/2 through the local ISM.

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arXiv2009

Spitzer IRS Spectra of Luminous 8 micron Sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud: Testing color-based classifications

We present archival Spitzer IRS spectra of 19 luminous 8 micron selected sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The object classes derived from these spectra and from an additional 24 spectra in the literature are compared with classifications based on 2MASS/MSX (J, H, K, and 8 micron) colors in order to test the "JHK8" classification scheme (Kastner et al. 2008). The IRS spectra confirm the classifications of 22 of the 31 sources that can be classified under the JHK8 system. The spectroscopic classification of 12 objects that were unclassifiable in the JHK8 scheme allow us to characterize regions of the color-color diagrams that previously lacked spectroscopic verification, enabling refinements to the JHK8 classification system. The results of these new classifications are consistent with previous results concerning the identification of the most infrared-luminous objects in the LMC. In particular, while the IRS spectra reveal several new examples of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with O-rich envelopes, such objects are still far outnumbered by carbon stars (C-rich AGB stars). We show that Spitzer IRAC/MIPS color-color diagrams provide improved discrimination between red supergiants and oxygen-rich and carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch stars relative to those based on 2MASS/MSX colors. These diagrams will enable the most luminous IR sources in Local Group galaxies to be classified with high confidence based on their Spitzer colors. Such characterizations of stellar populations will continue to be possible during Spitzer's warm mission, through the use of IRAC [3.6]-[4.5] and 2MASS colors.

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arXiv2009

Sculpting an AGB Mass-Loss Envelope into a Bipolar Planetary Nebula: High-Velocity Outflows in V Hydrae

We have carried out high-resolution spectroscopic observations of the carbon star V Hya, covering the 4.6 micron band of CO. These data, taken over 7 epochs, show that the circumstellar environment of V Hya consists of a complex high-velocity (HV) outflow containing at least six kinematic components with expansion velocities ranging between 70 and 120 km/s, together with a slow-moving normal outflow at about 10 km/s. Physical changes occur in the HV outflow regions on a time-scale as short as two days, limiting their extent to < ~ 10^{16} cm. The intrinsic line-width for each HV component is quite large (6-8 km/s) compared to the typical values (~1 km/s) appropriate for normal AGB circumstellar envelopes (CSEs), due to excess turbulence and/or large velocity gradients resulting from the energetic interaction of the HV outflow with the V Hya CSE. We have modelled the absorption features to set constraints on the temperature distribution in, and the mass ejection-rates for gas in the main HV components.

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arXiv2009

Understanding Mass-Loss and the late Evolution of Intermediate Mass Stars: Jets, Disks, Binarity, Dust and Magnetic Fields

Almost all stars in the 1-8 Msun range evolve through the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB), preplanetary nebula (PPN) and planetary nebula (PN) evolutionary phases. Most stars that leave the main sequence in a Hubble time will end their lives in this way. The heavy mass loss which occurs during the AGB phase is important across astrophysics, and the particulate matter crucial for the birth of new solar systems is made and ejected by AGB stars. Yet stellar evolution from the beginning of the AGB phase to the PN phase remains poorly understood. We do not understand how the mass-loss (rate, geometry, temporal history) depends on fundamental stellar parameters or the presence of a binary companion. While the study of evolved non-massive stars has maintained a relatively modest profile in recent decades, we are nonetheless in the midst of a quiet but exciting revolution in this area, driven by new observational results, such as the discovery of jets and disks in stellar environments where these were never expected, and by the recognition of new symmetries such as multipolarity and point-symmetry occuring frequently in the nebulae resulting from the outflows. In this paper we summarise the major unsolved problems in this field, and specify the areas where allocation of effort and resources is most likely to help make significant progress.

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arXiv2009

Collimated Fast Wind in the Pre-Planetary Nebula CRL 618

Collimated fast winds (CFWs) have been proposed to operate during the post-AGB evolutionary phase (and even earlier during the late AGB phase), responsible for the shaping of pre-planetary nebulae (PPNs) and young planetary nebulae (PNs). This paper is a follow-up to our previous study of CFW models for the well-studied PPN CRL 618. Previously, we compared our CFW models with optical observations of CRL 618 in atomic and ionic lines and found that a CFW with a small opening angle can readily reproduce the highly collimated shape of the northwestern (W1) lobe of CRL 618 and the bow-like structure seen at its tip. In this paper, we compare our CFW models with recent observations of CRL 618 in CO J=2-1, J=6-5, and H2 1-0 S(1). In our models, limb-brightened shell structures are seen in CO and H2 at low velocity arising from the shocked AGB wind in the shell, and can be identified as the low-velocity (LV) components in the observations. However, the shell structure in CO J=2-1 is significantly less extended than that seen in the observations. None of our models can properly reproduce the observed high-velocity (HV) molecular emission near the source along the body of the lobe. In order to reproduce the HV molecular emission in CRL 618, the CFW is required to have a different structure. One possible CFW structure is the cylindrical jet, with the fast wind material confined to a small cross section and collimated to the same direction along the outflow axis.

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arXiv2009

Detection of X-rays from the jet-driving Symbiotic Star MWC 560

We report the detection of X-ray emission from the jet-driving symbiotic star MWC 560. We observed MWC 560 with XMM-Newton for 36 ks. We fitted the spectra from the EPIC pn, MOS1 and MOS2 instruments with XSPEC and examined the light curves with the package XRONOS. The spectrum can be fitted with a highly absorbed hard X-ray component from an optically-thin hot plasma, a Gaussian emission line with an energy of 6.1 keV and a less absorbed soft thermal component. The best fit is obtained with a model in which the hot component is produced by optically thin thermal emission from an isobaric cooling flow with a maximum temperature of 61 keV, which might be created inside an optically-thin boundary layer on the surface of the accreting with dwarf. The derived parameters of the hard component detected in MWC 560 are in good agreement with similar objects as CH Cyg, SS7317, RT Cru and T CrB, which all form a new sub-class of symbiotic stars emitting hard X-rays. Our previous numerical simulations of the jet in MWC 560 showed that it should produce detectable soft X-ray emission. We infer a temperature of 0.17 keV for the observed soft component, i.e. less than expected from our models. The total soft X-ray flux (i.e. at < 3 keV) is more than a factor 100 less than predicted for the propagating jet soon after its birth (<0.3 yr), but consistent with the value expected due its decrease with age. The ROSAT upper limit is also consistent with such a decrease. We find aperiodic or quasi-periodic variability on timescales of minutes and hours, but no periodic rapid variability. All results are consistent with an accreting white dwarf powering the X-ray emission and the existence of an optically-thin boundary layer around it.

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