Publications of the MPIfR
Optical & Infrared
Interferometry Group
Ohnaka, K.
VLTI's view on the circumstellar environment of
cool evolved stars (invited talk)
Euro Summer School: "Observation and Data Reduction
with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer", 4-16 June 2006,
Goutelas, France, in press (2007)
Abstract
Infrared spectrointerferometry provides us with a unique opportunity
to study the circumstellar environment of cool evolved stars in great
detail, with spectral and spatial information disentangled. Recently,
ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) has shed new light on
the molecule and dust formation close to the photosphere or the
structure of circumstellar disks around cool evolved stars. Our
VLTI/MIDI observations of the oxygen-rich Mira star RR Sco have
revealed the wavelength dependence of the angular size of the Mira star
from 8 to 13 µm, which can be well explained by the presence of
extended and dense H 2 O layers and an optically thin dust shell. On
the other hand, our MIDI observations of the silicate carbon star
IRAS08002-3803 indicate the presence of an optically thick
circumbinary disk, but the dust chemistry in the disk has turned out to
be more complicated than previously thought. These results demonstrate
the power of spectro-interferometry for obtaining new insights into
the circumstellar environment of cool evolved stars.
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