A Parsec-Size Bow Shock around Betelgeuse
Abstract
We present new High Resolution IRAS (HiRes) images at 60 and 100 \mum of a bow shock or shell with a mean radius of 6arcmin surrounding Betelgeuse (alpha Orionis). The outermost section of this structure is at ~ 7arcmin which corresponds to a physical scale of 0.8 pc at a distance of 400 pc. The images were made by applying a relative Burg entropy maximization algorithm to suppress the ringing around bright sources and allow the detection of nearby low surface brightness features. The shell is relatively narrow at 60 \mum (at the 1arcmin HiRes resolution), asymmetric and oriented along the star's direction of motion. We propose that the shell is confined by the ram pressure of the interstellar medium. Using a shell flux of 110 Jy (at 60 \mum) within a radius of 7.arcmin5 we estimate mass of 0.14 \msol for the shell.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- August 1997
- DOI:
- 10.1086/118517
- Bibcode:
- 1997AJ....114..837N
- Keywords:
-
- TURBULENCE;
- ISM: STRUCTURE;
- STARS: INDIVIDUAL: BETELGEUSE