Reconstructing the mid-infrared environment in the stellar merger remnant V838 Monocerotis
arxiv(2023)
Abstract
V838 Mon is a stellar merger remnant that erupted in 2002 in a luminous red
novae event. Although it is well studied in the optical, near infrared and
submillimeter regimes, its structure in the mid-infrared wavelengths remains
elusive. We observed V838 Mon with the MATISSE (LMN bands) and GRAVITY (K band)
instruments at the VLTI and also the MIRCX/MYSTIC (HK bands) instruments at the
CHARA array. We geometrically modelled the squared visibilities and the closure
phases in each of the bands to obtain constraints on physical parameters.
Furthermore, we constructed high resolution images of V838 Mon in the HK bands,
using the MIRA and SQUEEZE algorithms to study the immediate surroundings of
the star. Lastly, we also modelled the spectral features seen in the K and M
bands at various temperatures. The image reconstructions show a bipolar
structure that surrounds the central star in the post merger remnant. In the K
band, the super resolved images show an extended structure (uniform disk
diameter ∼ 1.94 mas) with a clumpy morphology that is aligned along a
north-west position angle (PA) of -40^∘. Whereas in the H band, the
extended structure (uniform disk diameter ∼ 1.18 mas) lies roughly along
the same PA. However, the northern lobe is slightly misaligned with respect to
the southern lobe, which results in the closure phase deviations. The VLTI and
CHARA imaging results show that V838 Mon is surrounded by features that
resemble jets that are intrinsically asymmetric. This is also confirmed by the
closure phase modelling. Further observations with VLTI can help to determine
whether this structure shows any variation over time, and also if such bipolar
structures are commonly formed in other stellar merger remnants.
MoreTranslated text
AI Read Science
Must-Reading Tree
Example
Generate MRT to find the research sequence of this paper
Chat Paper
Summary is being generated by the instructions you defined