OH/IR star color mimics

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (36) References (52) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS OH/IR Star Color Mimics Lewis, B. M. Abstract IR color criteria are used to select potential OH/IR stars from the IRAS Point Source Catalog. These OH/IR star color mimics, despite often having thick and demonstrably O-rich dust shells to shield their molecules against interstellar UV, have no 1612 MHz masers. The most likely reason for this is that these stars have degenerate companions, which collect an accretion disk from the red giant wind, which in turn provides them with a local source of UV to dissociate molecules from within their dust shells. In some cases this self-generated UV is sufficient to excise all molecules from a shell, as happens with symbiotic novae; in some cases it merely reduces their number and the ability of a shell to support a maser. It is suggested that D-type symbiotic stars can be identified among sources with thick opaque dust shells by a persistent absence of appropriate masers: these are the OH/IR color mimics. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: September 1992 DOI: 10.1086/171713 Bibcode: 1992ApJ...396..251L Keywords: Hydroxyl Emission; Infrared Stars; Interstellar Masers; Stellar Color; Stellar Envelopes; Astronomical Catalogs; Companion Stars; Infrared Astronomy Satellite; Astrophysics; INFRARED: STARS; MASERS; STARS: CIRCUMSTELLAR MATTER full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (340)