A MODEL OF MIRA'S COMETARY HEAD/TAIL ENTERING THE LOCAL BUBBLE

Journal Article · Mon Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/725/2/1466· OSTI ID:21476711

Esquivel, A; Raga, A C; RodrIguez-Gonzalez, A; Lopez-Camara, D; Velazquez, P F ^[1]; Canto, J ^[2]

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1. Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 70-543, 04510 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)
2. Instituto de Astronomia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 70-468, 04510 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

We model the cometary structure around Mira as the interaction of an asymptotic giant branch stellar wind from Mira A with a streaming environment. Our simulations introduce the following new element: we assume that after 200 kyr of evolution in a dense environment, Mira entered the Local Bubble (low-density coronal gas). As Mira enters the bubble, the head of the comet expands quite rapidly, while the tail remains well collimated for a >100 kyr timescale. The result is a broad-head/narrow-tail structure that resembles the observed morphology of Mira's comet. The simulations were carried out with our new adaptive grid code WALICXE, which is described in detail.

• OSTI ID: 21476711
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 725, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/725/2/1466; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COMETS
HYDRODYNAMICS
SIMULATION
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
STELLAR WINDS
EVOLUTION
FLUID MECHANICS
MECHANICS
STELLAR ACTIVITY