Carbon Chemistry in IRC+10216: Infrared Detection of Diacetylene
Abstract
We present the detection of C4H2 for first time in the envelope of the C-rich AGB star IRC+10216, based on high spectral resolution mid-infrared observations carried out with the Texas Echelon-cross-Echelle Spectrograph mounted on the Infrared Telescope Facility. The obtained spectrum contains 24 narrow absorption features above the detection limit, identified as lines of the ro-vibrational C4H2 band {ν }6+{ν }8({σ }u+). The analysis of these lines through a ro-vibrational diagram indicates that the column density of C4H2 is (2.4 ± 1.5) × 1016 cm-2. Diacetylene is distributed in two excitation populations accounting for 20% and 80% of the total column density and with rotational temperatures of 47 ± 7 and 420 ± 120 K, respectively. This two-folded rotational temperature suggests that the absorbing gas is located beyond ≃0.″4 ≃ 20 R ⋆ from the star, with a noticeable cold contribution outwards from ≃10″ ≃ 500 R ⋆. This outer shell matches up with the place where cyanoacetylenes and carbon chains are known to form due to the action of the Galactic dissociating radiation field on the neutral gas coming from the inner layers of the envelope.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- January 2018
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9ee0
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1711.10926
- Bibcode:
- 2018ApJ...852...80F
- Keywords:
-
- circumstellar matter;
- line: identification;
- stars: abundances;
- stars: AGB and post-AGB;
- stars: individual: IRC+10216;
- surveys;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in the ApJ