Coronographic imaging of the bipolar nebula around the luminous blue variable R 127

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (42) References (27) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Coronographic Imaging of the Bipolar Nebula around the Luminous Blue Variable R127 Clampin, Mark ; Nota, Antonella ; Golimowski, David A. ; Leitherer, Claus ; Durrance, Samuel T. Abstract New images of the nebula surrounding the luminous blue variable (LBV) R 127 have been obtained with the Johns Hopkins Adaptive Optics Coronograph. These images reveal, for the first time, the detailed morphology of the nebula and show it to be highly asymmetric with large variations in surface brightness. The nebula has linear dimensions of 1.9 x 2.2 pc, assuming a distance to the LMC of 51.2 kpc. The nebular mass, calculated from the integrated H-alpha flux, is 3.1 solar masses, which is similar to that of the AG Carinae nebula. The coronographic images of the R 127 nebula support a recent model of R127 which suggests that an equatorial circumstellar disk is responsible for the observed polarimetric and spectroscopic properties of the star. The images also suggest an evolutionary link between the mechanism responsible for the mass-loss episode which created the nebula and the current mass-loss properties of the system. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: June 1993 DOI: 10.1086/186873 Bibcode: 1993ApJ...410L..35C Keywords: Blue Stars; Coronagraphs; Emission Spectra; Nebulae; Stellar Envelopes; Variable Stars; Adaptive Optics; Brightness; Magellanic Clouds; Morphology; Stellar Evolution; Stellar Spectra; Astrophysics; STARS: CIRCUMSTELLAR MATTER; STARS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: R127; STARS: MASS LOSS full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (6)