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A high-contrast imaging survey of nearby red supergiants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2017

Peter Scicluna
Affiliation:
Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 11F Astronomy-Mathematics Building, NTU/AS campus, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan, Republic of China email: [email protected]
Ralf Siebenmorgen
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748, Garching b. München, Germany
Joris Blommaert
Affiliation:
Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Group, Dep. of Physics and Astrophysics, V.U. Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
Francisca Kemper
Affiliation:
Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 11F Astronomy-Mathematics Building, NTU/AS campus, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan, Republic of China email: [email protected]
Roger Wesson
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Sebastian Wolf
Affiliation:
Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Universität zu Kiel, Leibnizstr. 15, 24118, Kiel, Germany
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Abstract

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Mass-loss in cool supergiants remains poorly understood, but is one of the key elements in their evolution towards exploding as supernovae. Some show evidence of asymmetric mass loss, discrete mass-ejections and outbursts, with seemingly little to distinguish them from more quiescent cases. To explore the prevalence of discrete ejections and companions we have conducted a high-constrast survey using near-infrared imaging and optical polarimetric imaging of nearby southern and equatorial red supergiants, using the extreme adaptive optics instrument SPHERE, which was designed to image planets around nearby stars. We present the initial results of this survey, including the detection of large (500 nm) dust grains in the ejecta of VY CMa and a candidate dusty torus aligned with the maser ring of VX Sgr. We briefly speculate on the consequences for our understanding of mass loss in these extreme stars.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2017 

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