VLA Observations of ζ Aurigae: Confirmation of the Slow Acceleration Wind Density Structure

Abstract

Studies of the winds from single K and early M evolved stars indicate that these flows typically reach a significant fraction of their terminal velocity within the first couple of stellar radii. The most detailed spatially resolved information of the extended atmospheres of these spectral types comes from the ζ Aur eclipsing binaries. However, the wind acceleration inferred for the evolved primaries in these systems appears significantly slower than for stars of similar spectral type. Since there are no successful theories for mass loss from K and early M evolved stars, it is important to place strong empirical constraints on potential models and determine whether this difference in acceleration is real or an artifact of the analyses. We have undertaken a radio continuum monitoring study of ζ Aurigae (K4 Ib + B5 V) using the Very Large Array to test the wind density model of Baade et al. that is based on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph ultraviolet spectra. ζ Aur was monitored at centimeter wavelengths over a complete orbital cycle, and flux variations during the orbit are found to be of similar magnitude to variations at similar orbital phases in the adjacent orbit. During eclipse, the flux does not decrease, showing that the radio emission originates from a volume substantially larger than R ~ (150 R⊙)3 surrounding the B star. Using the one-dimensional density model of the K4 Ib primary's wind derived from HST spectral line profile modeling and electron temperature estimates from previous optical and new HST studies, we find that the predicted radio fluxes are consistent with those observed. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations indicate that the accretion flow perturbations near the B star do not contribute significantly to the total radio flux from the system, consistent with the radio eclipse observations. Our radio observations confirm the slow wind acceleration for the evolved K4 Ib component. ζ Aur's velocity structure does not appear to be typical of single stars with similar spectral types. This highlights the need for more comprehensive multiwavelength studies for both single stars, which have been sadly neglected, and other ζ Aur systems to determine if its wind properties are typical.