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Molecular lines in the envelopes of evolved stars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2008

Yong Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong email: zhangy96@hku.hk; sunkwok@hku.hk
Sun Kwok
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong email: zhangy96@hku.hk; sunkwok@hku.hk
Dinh-V- Trung
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, P.O Box 23-141, Taipei 106, Taiwan email: trung@asiaa.sinica.edu.tw
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Abstract

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We report a spectral line survey of the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars at millimeter wavelengths. The data allow us to investigate the chemical processes in different physical environments and evolutionary stages. A total of more than 500 emission features (mostly rotational transitions of molecules) are detected in the survey. Our observations show that the sources in different evolutionary stages have remarkably different chemical composition. As a star evolves from AGB stage to proto-planetary nebula, the abundances of Si-bearing molecules (SiO, SiCC, and SiS) decrease, while the abundances of some long-chain molecules, such as CH3CN, C4H, and HC3N, increase. After further evolution to planetary nebula, the abundances of neutral molecules dramatically decrease, and the emission from molecular ions becomes more intense. These differences can be attributed to the changes of the role that dust, stellar winds, shock waves, and UV/X-rays from the central star play in different evolutionary stages. These results will provide significant constraints on models of circumstellar chemistry.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008