The extended 1.3 mm continuum emission around CW Leo

M. A. T. Groenewegen , W. E. C. J. van der Veen , B. Lefloch ,A. Omont
Max-Planck Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild Straße 1, D-85740 Garching, Germany
Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 538 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, U.S.A.
IRAM, Avda. Divina Pastora 7, Nucleo Central, E-18012 Granada, Spain
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, 98bis Boulevard Arago, F-75014 Paris, France
Abstract: We have obtained a 150 150'' map of the 1.3 mm emission around the carbon star CW Leo. Emission is detected at the 3 level out to a distance of 50'' from the central star. From model calculations we find that the dust density distribution is described by an approximate law superposed on which are possible density enhancements at about 5 and 20'' distance from the star. This could imply phases of enhanced mass loss lasting up to several hundred years duration over the last few 1000 years. The major uncertainty in a quantitative analysis is in the contribution of molecular lines. The density enhancement at 5'' is consistent with a recent phase of increased mass loss as inferred from CO data.
Accepted by A&A Letters
For preprints, contact groen@mpa-garching.mpg.de, or http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~groen/groen.html

 

Figure 3: The 1.3 mm continuum map of CW Leo. The noise level is 5 mJy/beam, and contours are drawn at the 3, 4, 5 and 6 level. The map size is 150 150'', with north up and east to the left. Scale is in arcseconds.