The Dynamic Atmospheres of Red Giant Stars
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The Dynamic Atmospheres of Red Giant Stars Spectral Synthesis in High Resolution Walter Nowotny revised version (December 2006) The Dynamic Atmospheres of Red Giant Stars Spectral Synthesis in High Resolution Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doctor rerum naturalium Doktor der Naturwissenschaften an der Fakult¨at f¨ur Geowissenschaften, Geographie und Astronomie der Universit¨at Wien eingereicht von Ing. Mag.rer.nat. Walter Nowotny-Schipper Institut f¨ur Astronomie T¨urkenschanzstr. 17 A–1180 Wien, Austria Wien, November 2005 Das sch¨onste Gl¨uck des denkenden Menschen ist, das Erforschliche erforscht zu haben und das Unerforschliche ruhig zu verehren. J.W. von Goethe And all that is now And all that is gone And all that’s to come and everything under the sun is tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon. Pink Floyd (from ”The dark side of the moon”) Contents Abstract v 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Setting the stage – stellar evolution and the general propertiesofAGBstars. 1 1.1.1 EvolutiontowardstheAGB . ... 1 1.1.2 Fundamental properties, nucleo-synthesis, convectiveprocesses . 2 1.1.3 Pulsation and photometric variability . ......... 4 1.1.4 Masslossandthefading. ... 5 1.1.5 AGB stars as members of stellar populations . ........ 5 1.2 AtmospheresandspectraofAGBstars. ........ 7 1.2.1 Generalremarks ................................ 7 1.2.2 The pulsating photosphere and molecular features . ........... 9 1.2.3 Circumstellar dust and the development of a stellar wind .......... 14 1.2.4 Regions of line formation – studying atmospheric dynamics in AGB stars . 16 1.2.4.1 Theoccurenceofmolecularfeatures . .... 16 1.2.4.2 Theconceptofopticaldepth . 17 1.2.4.3 LineformationinAGBstars . 19 1.2.4.4 Obtaining information on dynamics in different atmospheric depths 21 1.3 Atmospheric kinematics of AGB stars and observed line profilevariations . 24 1.3.1 Generalremarks ................................ 24 1.3.2 MolecularlinesofCOintheNIR. .... 26 1.3.2.1 Second overtone lines – CO ∆v=3.................. 27 1.3.2.2 First overtone lines – CO ∆v=2 ................... 32 1.3.2.3 Fundamental mode lines – CO ∆v=1 ................ 33 1.3.3 Otherfeaturesobserved . .... 34 1.3.4 Deducing a stratigraphy for AGB atmospheres . ........ 37 1.3.5 Carbon-richLPVs ............................... 40 1.3.5.1 COfeatures .............................. 40 1.3.5.2 CNlines–animportanttoolforCstars . .. 41 1.3.5.3 TheC-typeMiraSCep . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 43 1.3.6 A note on studying the dynamics of stellar systems . .......... 44 1.4 Aimandstructureofthethesis . ....... 48 i 2 AGB atmospheres from the numerical point of view 51 2.1 Dynamicmodelatmospheres . ..... 52 2.1.1 Generalremarks ................................ 52 2.1.2 The models for atmospheres and winds used in this thesis.......... 52 2.1.2.1 Basicingredients. 53 2.1.2.2 Atmospheric models selected for the line profile modelling. 55 2.1.2.3 Somecomputationaldetails. .. 57 2.1.3 Naming convention for radial velocities . .......... 62 2.1.4 Some remarks on stellar parameters – real stars vs. models ......... 62 2.1.4.1 Period, luminosity, amplitude, mass . ..... 62 2.1.4.2 Effective temperature, surface gravity . ...... 63 2.1.4.3 Elementalabundances,C/Oratio . .. 64 2.1.4.4 Consequences.............................. 64 2.2 Spectralsynthesis............................... ...... 64 2.2.1 Spectral features chosen for the line profile modelling ............ 64 2.2.2 Opacity treatment (COMA)............................ 65 2.2.3 Mergingdifferentopacitysources . ....... 69 2.2.4 Radiative transfer and deriving RVs from synthetic spectra ......... 72 2.2.5 Influence of velocities on optical depth and line formation .......... 73 2.2.6 Visual phases of observations vs. bolometric phases ofmodels........ 77 3 Synthetic line profiles 81 3.1 Modelling line profile variations – the history so far . ............... 81 3.1.1 Generalremarks ................................ 81 3.1.2 Pulsating model atmospheres (Australia–Heidelberg models) ........ 82 3.1.3 Dust-driven wind models (Berlin models) . ........ 83 3.1.4 Combined atmosphere and wind models (Vienna models) . ......... 84 3.2 Reproducing the global (velocity) structures of Miras . ................ 85 3.2.1 Probingthepulsatinglayers. ...... 85 3.2.1.1 CO ∆v=3lines............................. 85 3.2.1.2 CNlines ................................ 87 3.2.2 Probing the dust-forming region – CO ∆v=2 ................. 90 3.2.3 Probing the outflow – CO ∆v=1 ........................ 93 3.2.4 TheoverallpictureconcerningRVs . ....... 94 3.2.5 Resume ...................................... 96 3.3 A closer look at CO ∆v=3lines............................. 97 3.3.1 LineformationinmodelS. ... 97 ii 3.3.2 Miras and semi-regular variables (SRVs) . ......... 100 3.4 Gasvelocitiesvs.measuredRVs. ........ 104 3.5 Stepstowardsrealisticmodels. ......... 105 3.5.1 Fitting models to observations of selected targets (e.g.SCep) . 105 3.5.2 Larger velocity amplitudes in the pulsating layers . ............. 108 3.6 Quasi-static, warm molecular envelopes and dynamic modelatmospheres. 112 4 Conclusions and future prospects 113 Bibliography 117 Abbreviations 128 Danksagung / Acknowledgements 129 iii iv Abstract Light is the only1 source of information we have to study distant stars. Our knowledge about the state of the matter inside stars has been gathered by analysing star light (photometry, spectroscopy, interferometry, polarimetry, etc.). Of central importance in this context are stellar atmospheres, which are the transition regions from the optically thick stellar interiors where the electromagnetic radiation is generated to the optically thin outer layers from where the photons can leave the star. However, the atmosphere of a star is not only the region where most of the observable radiation is emitted or in other words the layers which are ”visible from outside”. The atmosphere also leaves an imprint on the stellar spectrum as the radiation passes through, most of the line spectrum is formed there. Thus, the light serves as a probe for the physical processes within stellar atmospheres,2 especially spectroscopy is one of the major tools in stellar astrophysics. Applying the underlying physical principles in numerical simulations (model atmospheres, synthetic spectra) is the second – complementary and necessary – step towards a deeper understanding of stellar atmospheres and for deriving stellar parameters (e.g. Teff , L, log g, chemical composition) of observed objects. This thesis is dedicated to the outer layers of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, which have rather remarkable properties compared to atmospheres of most other types of stars. AGB stars represent low- to intermediate mass stars at a late stage of their evolution. Forming a sub-group among all red giants, they exhibit large extensions, low effective temperatures and high luminosities. The evolutionary phase of the AGB – complex but decisive for stellar evolution – is characterised by several important phenomena as for example nucleo-synthesis in explosively burning shells (thermal pulses), convective processes (dredge up), large-amplitude pulsations with long periods or a pronounced mass loss. Red giant stars generally have extremely extended atmospheres with extensions on the same order as the radii of the stars themselves (a few 100 R⊙). Within these cool and relatively dense environments, molecules can efficiently form. They have many internal degrees of freedom leading to a large number of possible transitions (electronic, vibrational, and rotational) and numerous ab- sorption lines/bands. Thus, molecules significantly determine the spectral appearance of late-type stars which have characteristic line-rich spectra in the visual and infrared. At the upper part of the AGB, the stars become unstable to strong radial pulsations (e.g. Mira variables). Due to the large size variations of the stellar interior, the outer layers are levitated and the atmospheric struc- ture is periodically modulated. Triggered by the pulsation, shock waves emerge and propagate outwards through the atmosphere. Efficient dust condensation can take place in the wake of the shock waves (post-shock regions). Due to the large absorptivity of the formed dust grains, radiation pressure results in an outwards directed acceleration with the outflowing dust particles dragging along the surrounding gas. This leads to the development of a rather slow but dense stellar wind. The just mentioned dynamic effects3 – pulsations of the stellar interior and dust-driven winds – have substantial influence on the evolution of the outer layers of these red giants. As a conse- quence, the atmospheres of evolved AGB stars can eventually become even more extended. Being 1Exceptions may be neutrinos from the sun or gravitational waves in the future. 2Note that spectroscopy provides primarily information about the atmosphere of a star, meaning the physical (e.g. T/p/ρ) and chemical (e.g. elemental abundances) properties of the spectrum-forming region. The optically thick stellar interior is a priori not visible, it may influence the spectral appearance indirectly though (e.g. features of nucleo-synthesis products, transformation from M-type to C star in the case of AGB stars). 3neglecting convection v time-dependently changed on global and local scales, the resulting atmospheric structure strongly deviates from a hydrostatic configuration (e.g. shock fronts). Especially important in the context of this thesis are the complex, non-monotonic velocity fields with macroscopic