Searching for Cool Dust. II. Infrared Imaging of the OH/IR Supergiants, NML Cyg, VX Sgr, S Per, and the Normal Red Supergiants RS per and T per

Michael S. Gordon, Roberta M. Humphreys, Terry J. Jones, Dinesh Shenoy, Robert D. Gehrz, L. Andrew Helton, Massimo Marengo, Philip M. Hinz, William F. Hoffman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

New MMT/MIRAC (9-11 μm), SOFIA/FORCAST (11-37 μm), and Herschel/PACS (70 and 160 μm) infrared (IR) imaging and photometry is presented for three famous OH/IR red supergiants (NML Cyg, VX Sgr, and S Per) and two normal red supergiants (RS Per and T Per). We model the observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) using radiative-transfer code DUSTY. Azimuthal average profiles from the SOFIA/FORCAST imaging, in addition to dust mass distribution profiles from DUSTY, constrain the mass-loss histories of these supergiants. For all of our observed supergiants, the DUSTY models suggest that constant mass-loss rates do not produce enough dust to explain the observed infrared emission in the stars' SEDs. Combining our results with Shenoy et al. (Paper I), we find mixed results with some red supergiants showing evidence for variable and high mass-loss events while others have constant mass loss over the past few thousand years.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number212
JournalAstronomical Journal
Volume155
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • stars: individual (NML Cyg, RS Per, S Per, T Per, VX Sgr)
  • stars: mass-loss

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