The Nearby Evolved Stars Survey II: Constructing a volume-limited sample and first results from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
Abstract
The Nearby Evolved Stars Survey (NESS) is a volume-complete sample of ~850 Galactic evolved stars within 3 kpc at (sub-)mm wavelengths, observed in the CO J = (2-1) and (3-2) rotational lines, and the sub-mm continuum, using the James Clark Maxwell Telescope and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. NESS consists of five tiers, based on distances and dust-production rate (DPR). We define a new metric for estimating the distances to evolved stars and compare its results to Gaia EDR3. Replicating other studies, the most-evolved, highly enshrouded objects in the Galactic Plane dominate the dust returned by our sources, and we initially estimate a total DPR of 4.7 × 10-5 M⊙ yr-1 from our sample. Our sub-mm fluxes are systematically higher and spectral indices are typically shallower than dust models typically predict. The 450/850 $\mu$m spectral indices are consistent with the blackbody Rayleigh-Jeans regime, suggesting a large fraction of evolved stars have unexpectedly large envelopes of cold dust.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- May 2022
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stab2860
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2110.12562
- Bibcode:
- 2022MNRAS.512.1091S
- Keywords:
-
- catalogues;
- surveys;
- stars: AGB and post-AGB;
- stars: mass-loss;
- stars: winds;
- outflows;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 20 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publications in MNRAS