November 29, 2018
Dr. Ravi Sankrit from the Space Telescope Science Institute/AURA will give a presentation entitled "V*R Aquarii: the Astronomy and the Physics"
R Aquarii (R Aqr) is the pre-eminent member of a small subset of interacting binaries — the symbiotic Miras, in which the highly evolved, pulsating, cool red giant star loses material via a wind to its even more evolved hot white dwarf companion. The radiation from the white dwarf, and the energy released in the accretion flow, heat and ionize the circumstellar material, thereby completing the symbiosis. The next periastron passage of R Aqr in its 44 year binary orbit will occur circa 2022, during which time we expect to observe dramatic changes due to enhanced accretion. Anticipating the excitement, we have initiated a program to monitor the mid-infrared emission from the circumstellar dust in R Aqr, using the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). In this talk I will present the preliminary results of our study, which is designed to trace the evolution of the dust emission. I will place these results in the context of the rich history of observations of R Aqr that date back to the early 20th century, when the system was first determined to be symbiotic, and even earlier to its discovery as a variable star. Through the talk, I will describe the basic physical processes underlying the phenomena, and their connection to the observations, and to the interpretation of the data. Pizza and brownies provided.
Further information
- Location: Tome 115
- Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Cost: Free