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The 3D morphology of the ejecta surrounding VY Canis Majoris

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2007

Terry Jay Jones ,
Roberta M. Humphreys  and
L. Andrew Helton
Terry Jay Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA email: tjj@astro.umn.edu, roberta@aps.umn.edu, ahelton@astro.umn.edu
Roberta M. Humphreys
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA email: tjj@astro.umn.edu, roberta@aps.umn.edu, ahelton@astro.umn.edu
L. Andrew Helton
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA email: tjj@astro.umn.edu, roberta@aps.umn.edu, ahelton@astro.umn.edu
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Abstract

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We use second epoch images taken with WFPC2 on the HST and imaging polarimetry taken with the HST/ACS/HRC to explore the three dimensional structure of the circumstellar dust distribution around the red supergiant VY Canis Majoris. Transverse motions, combined with radial velocities, provide a picture of the kinematics of the ejecta, including the total space motions. The fractional polarization and photometric colors provide an independent method of locating the physical position of the dust along the line-of-sight. Most of the individual arc-like features and clumps seen in the intensity image are also features in the fractional polarization map, and must be distinct geometric objects. The location of these features in the ejecta of VY CMa using kinematics and polarimetry agree well with each other, and strongly suggest they are the result of relatively massive ejections, probably associated with magnetic fields.

Keywords

stars: individual (VY CMa)stars: mass losspolarization
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 3 , Symposium S242: Astrophysical Masers and their Environments , March 2007 , pp. 256 - 260
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

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