1. Studying circumstellar envelopes with ALMA
David Neufeld
Johns Hopkins University

2. The 0.1 – 104 mm background
Since t = 105 yr, most of the photons generated in the Universe were emitted by interstellar dust
Ned Wright, UCLA

3. Evolved stars as dust factories
Where does this dust come from?
Here’s an inventory of sources from Gehrz (1989)

4. 90% of Galactic dust comes from AGB stars
‘O-rich’ (C/O < 1)
‘C-rich’ (C/O > 1)
Most AGB stars are oxygen-rich, and produce silicate dusts: prominent 9.7 micron emission features
Toward the end of the AGB phase, these stars may become carbon-rich and produce carbonaceous dust

5. Canonical picture
AGB stars are intermediate mass stars which are burning H or He in a shell
Stellar radius ~ 1 a.u.
Stellar luminosity ~ 104 L
Photospheric temperature ~ 2000 – 3000 K
Long period pulsational variables (P ~ 1 yr)
Outflowing envelopes (v ~ 10 km/s) driven by radiation pressure on newly formed dust
Mass loss rates ~10–6 – 10–4 M/yr and variable

6. The envelopes of AGB stars show a very rich molecular inventory
Recent 345 GHz line survey of the carbon –rich AGB star IRC+10216, obtained with the SMA (Patel et al. 2011)
442 spectral lines in a 60 GHz bandpass, 149 of which are unassigned

7. The envelopes of AGB stars show a very rich molecular inventory
Recent 345 GHz line survey of the carbon –rich AGB star IRC+10216, obtained with the SMA (Patel et al. 2011)
The spectral line profiles are readily resolved

8. The envelopes of AGB stars show a very rich molecular inventory
List of detected 63 molecules from Olofsson (2008, ApSS) Note the 1st astrophysical detection of a molecular anion, C6H– (and C4H–, C8H– and C3N– have since been detected)

9. SMA maps can be obtained for each spectral line
Molecules resulting from photochemical processing appear in shells (e.g. the C4H radical in the above example)

10. Open questions Where exactly does dust form?
How quickly is the outflowing material accelerated?
How does the envelope composition (dust and gas) relate to the photospheric abundances (C-rich or O-rich)?
What roles do photochemistry and shock chemistry play in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars?
What is the thermal structure of circumstellar envelopes?
Which transitions show maser action, and how is a population inversion established
What are the elemental and isotopic abundances of the material injected by AGB stars?
What is the fate of orbiting planets?
After the AGB phase, how do these stars evolve further?

11. Open questions Where exactly does dust form?
How quickly is the outflowing material accelerated?
How does the envelope composition (dust and gas) relate to the photospheric abundances (C-rich or O-rich)?
What roles do photochemistry and shock chemistry play in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars?
What is the thermal structure of circumstellar envelopes?
Which transitions show maser action, and how is a population inversion established
What are the elemental and isotopic abundances of the material injected by AGB stars?
What is the fate of orbiting planets?
After the AGB phase, how do these stars evolve further?

12. The outflow velocity profile provides a clue to the location of dust formation
Based on Herschel/HIFI observations, Decin et al. (2010) compared the linewidths of various molecular transitions in IK Tau: acceleration more gradual than predicted in simple models

13. The outflow velocity profile provides a clue to the location of dust formation
Interferometric observations measure narrower line profiles in the inner envelope, probing the acceleration zone SMA results from Patel et al. (2009), show narrow and compact SiS v=1-1 J=19-18 emission

14. Open questions Where exactly does dust form?
How quickly is the outflowing material accelerated?
How does the envelope composition (dust and gas) relate to the photospheric abundances (C-rich or O-rich)?
What roles do photochemistry and shock chemistry play in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars?
What is the thermal structure of circumstellar envelopes?
Which transitions show maser action, and how is a population inversion established
What are the elemental and isotopic abundances of the material injected by AGB stars?
What is the fate of orbiting planets?
After the AGB phase, how do these stars evolve further?

15. Circumstellar chemistry is expected to depend upon C/O ratio
Oxygen-rich stars: expect CO and H2O
Carbon-rich stars: expect CO, C2H2, HCN
To ZEROTH order, this is the observed behavior, but IRC has much higher than expected H2O, OH, H2CO, C3O, and SiO abundances
Indeed, water is widely observed in C-rich stars

16. Herschel/HIFI indicates that water is widely detectable in carbon stars
Neufeld et al. 2011, ApJ – could be shock chemistry (Cherchneff 2011) or photochemistry (Decin et al. 2010)

17. Open questions Where exactly does dust form?
How quickly is the outflowing material accelerated?
How does the envelope composition (dust and gas) relate to the photospheric abundances (C-rich or O-rich)?
What roles do photochemistry and shock chemistry play in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars?
What is the thermal structure of circumstellar envelopes?
Which transitions show maser action, and how is a population inversion established
What are the elemental and isotopic abundances of the material injected by AGB stars?
What is the fate of orbiting planets?
After the AGB phase, how do these stars evolve further?

18. Circumstellar envelopes radiate strongly at submillimeter wavelengths
Royer et al. 2010, A&A – low resolution SPIRE spectrum of the O-rich red supergiant VY CMa

19. Open questions Where exactly does dust form?
How quickly is the outflowing material accelerated?
How does the envelope composition (dust and gas) relate to the photospheric abundances (C-rich or O-rich)?
What roles do photochemistry and shock chemistry play in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars?
What is the thermal structure of circumstellar envelopes?
Which transitions show maser action, and how is a population inversion established
What are the elemental and isotopic abundances of the material injected by AGB stars?
What is the fate of orbiting planets?
After the AGB phase, how do these stars evolve further?

20. Open questions Where exactly does dust form?
How quickly is the outflowing material accelerated?
How does the envelope composition (dust and gas) relate to the photospheric abundances (C-rich or O-rich)?
What roles do photochemistry and shock chemistry play in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars?
What is the thermal structure of circumstellar envelopes?
Which transitions show maser action, and how is a population inversion established
What are the elemental and isotopic abundances of the material injected by AGB stars into the ISM?
What is the fate of orbiting planets?
After the AGB phase, how do these stars evolve further?

21. Many molecular isotopologues are observed in IRC+10216
Isotopic ratios from Olofsson (2008, ApSS) Some are quite different from the solar system values No detection yet of radioactive isotopes 14C and 26Al

22. Open questions Where exactly does dust form?
How quickly is the outflowing material accelerated?
How does the envelope composition (dust and gas) relate to the photospheric abundances (C-rich or O-rich)?
What roles do photochemistry and shock chemistry play in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars?
What is the thermal structure of circumstellar envelopes?
Which transitions show maser action, and how is a population inversion established
What are the elemental and isotopic abundances of the material injected by AGB stars into the ISM?
What is the fate of orbiting planets?
After the AGB phase, how do these stars evolve further?

23. The role of ALMA
Several key capabilities are well suited to addressing these questions:
high spatial resolution
high spectral resolution
access to high frequency transitions
high sensitivity

24. The role of ALMA
Several key capabilities are well suited to addressing these questions:
high spatial resolution
high spectral resolution
access to high frequency transitions
high sensitivity

25. AGB stars are fairly rare, and therefore distant
For example, the closest known C-rich AGB star is IRC+10216, at a distance of ~ 150 pc*
Angular radius of photosphere ~ 0.03 arcsec
Angular radius of dust formation zone ~ 0.1 arcsec
* We are pretty lucky: there are no other known
C-rich AGB stars within 500 pc

26. The role of ALMA
Several key capabilities are well suited to addressing these questions:
high spatial resolution
high spectral resolution
access to high frequency transitions
high sensitivity

27. The role of ALMA
Several key capabilities are well suited to addressing these questions:
high spatial resolution
high spectral resolution
access to high frequency transitions
high sensitivity

28. The role of ALMA
Several key capabilities are well suited to addressing these questions:
high spatial resolution
high spectral resolution
access to high frequency transitions
high sensitivity

29. High sensitivity will allow imaging of thermal emission from the photosphere
The very nearest Mira variables (d ~ 100 pc) can be imaged with the VLA (Reid and Menten 2007 – observations at 43 GHz) The radio photospheres are roughly twice the size of the optical photosphere (H– and H2– free-free opacity)

30. Open questions Where exactly does dust form?
How quickly is the outflowing material accelerated?
How does the envelope composition (dust and gas) relate to the photospheric abundances (C-rich or O-rich)?
What roles do photochemistry and shock chemistry play in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars?
What is the thermal structure of circumstellar envelopes?
Which transitions show maser action, and how is a population inversion established
What are the elemental and isotopic abundances of the material injected by AGB stars?
What is the fate of orbiting planets?
After the AGB phase, how do these stars evolve further?