Improved Constraints on the Disk around MWC 349A from the 23 m LBTI

Journal Article · Thu Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/AA7855· OSTI ID:22663378

Sallum, S.; Eisner, J. A.; Hinz, P. M.; Sheehan, P. D. ^[1]; Skemer, A. J. ^[2]; Tuthill, P. G. ^[3]

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1. Astronomy Department, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
2. Astronomy Department, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
3. School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

We present new spatially resolved observations of MWC 349A from the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), a 23 m baseline interferometer made up of two, co-mounted 8 m telescopes. MWC 349A is a B[e] star with an unknown evolutionary state. Proposed scenarios range from a young stellar object, to a B[e] supergiant, to a tight binary system. Radio continuum and recombination line observations of this source revealed a sub-arcsecond bipolar outflow surrounding an ∼100 mas circumstellar disk. Follow-up infrared studies detected the disk, and suggested that it may have skew and an inner clearing. Our new infrared interferometric observations, which have more than twice the resolution of previously published data sets, support the presence of both skew and a compact infrared excess. They rule out inner clearings with radii greater than ∼14 mas. We show the improvements in disk parameter constraints provided by LBTI, and discuss the inferred disk parameters in the context of the posited evolutionary states for MWC 349A.

• OSTI ID: 22663378
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 844, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
INTERFEROMETERS
LIMITING VALUES
RECOMBINATION
RESOLUTION
STARS
TELESCOPES