# Diffraction-limited 76 mas speckle-masking interferometry of the carbon star IRC +10 216 and related AGB objects with the SAO 6 m telescope

## 1. Speckle masking observations of IRC +10 216

IRC +10 216 (CW Leo) is the nearest, brightest and best–studied carbon star. The central star of IRC +10 216 is a long–period variable with a period of about 650 days. Distance estimates between 110 pc and 170 pc were reported (see Crosas & Menten 1997 and references therein). High–resolution IR observations of IRC +10 216 and of its circumstellar dust shell were reported by Dyck et al. (1991), Danchi et al. (1994), McCarthy et al. (1990), Christou et al. (1990), Osterbart et al. (1997), Weigelt et al. (1997, 1998), and Haniff & Buscher (1998). Recent detailed radiative transfer calculations for IRC +10 216 were presented by Groenewegen (1997).

The IRC +10 216 speckle interferograms were obtained with the 6 m telescope at the Special Astrophysical Observatory in Russia and our NICMOS 3 camera at four different epochs. The high–resolution J, H, and K images (Figs. 1 to 3) were reconstructed from the speckle interferograms using the speckle masking bispectrum method (Weigelt 1977, Lohmann et al. 1983, Weigelt 1991). The resolution of the J (April 2, 1996), H (January 23, 1997), and K (January 23, 1997) images are 149 mas, 70 mas, and 87 mas, respectively. We denote the resolved components in the H and K image as A, B, C, and D (in the order of decreasing peak intensity; Weigelt et al. 1998).

The separation of the components A and B was measured for four different epochs. The four obtained separations are: 193 mas (October 1995, phase 0.88), 201 mas (April 1996, phase 0.15), 212 mas (January 1997, phase 0.62), and 246 mas (June 98, phase 0.39). The linear regression fit gives a velocity for this motion of $``$ 20 mas/yr. Assuming a distance of 150 pc (Crosas & Menten 1997) for IRC +10 216, this tangential velocity transforms to 14 km/s. This velocity is smaller than the value of the radial expansion velocity of 15 km/s of the circumstellar matter (see Gensheimer & Snyder 1997 and references therein). From the present data there is no evidence that the motion inside the nebula is correlated with the stellar pulsation cycle.

## 2. Discussion

The core structure and the faint nebula in the H and K images. The multi–component structure of the IRC +10 216 K–band image (of the innermost 300 mas $`\times `$ 300 mas) has already been reported by Weigelt et al. (1998) and Haniff & Buscher (1998). This bright inner region is surrounded by a larger faint bipolar nebula (with $``$ 1% of the peak brightness of A). On the northern side of this faint nebula two arms of the nebula can be seen at position angles of roughly 30(NE) and 340(NW) with respect to component A. On the southern side one arm is present at about 210(SW). At 160(counterside of the NW-arm) the nebula is much fainter. It may, therefore, be adequate to take the direction from component A to component B (about 20 position angle) as the direction of the main axis (see also Kastner & Weintraub 1994).

The bipolar J–band image. The J–band image (Fig. 1) and the 0.79 $`\mu `$m and 1.06 $`\mu `$m HST images (Haniff & Buscher 1998) show a bipolar structure of the nebula. The southern lobe has a cometary shape whereas the northern region of the images shows two arms reminiscent to (but much weaker than) the X–shaped structure of the Red Rectangle (see Men’shchikov et al. 1998).

H-K color image. In a square aperture of 1.6 arcsec the H and K magnitudes were determined to be K=2.5 and H=5.7. The integral color in this field is thus H-K=$`3.2\pm 0.2`$. Our high–resolution H-K color image (Osterbart et al. 1999) shows that the components B, C, and D are rather red (H-K$``$4.2) in comparison with the integral color. The brightest component A (H-K=3.2) as well as the cometary southern tails (H-K=2 to 3) in the H and J image are bluer. These tails are a striking feature best seen in the high–resolution H–band image (Fig. 2). This structure and its relatively blue color suggest that component A is produced to a significant fraction by scattering of stellar light. This morphology can easily be understood under the assumption that the density of the dust shell is not sperically symmetric. The polar axis probably points with its southern side towards us. Component B may then be at or near the position of the star, strongly obscured and reddened by its environment. This suggests that the main axis of the nebula has a position angle of $``$ 20.

Relative motion of A and B. The relative motion of the nebula components is clearly not related to the stellar variablity which has a period of about 650 days. It may thus be related to either an overall expansion or a variability of the dust shell with a period significantly larger than the stellar pulsation period (cf. Winters et al. 1995).

Bipolar structure, clumpiness, and position of the central star. Theoretical models treating the dust formation mechanism in the envelope of long–period variable carbon stars (Winters et al. 1994a,b) predict that dust formation does not occur permanently but ceases regularly. Periods of this mechanism may be significantly different from the stellar pulsation period. This leads us to the conclusion that in our IRC +10 216 images we see the inner boundary of the dust shell moving outwards with approximately 15 km/s. The components in the central region of IRC +10 216 have separations of the order of only a few stellar radii and the travel time of newly formed dust over these distances is only a few years. The components A to D may be caused, for instance, by large convection cells in the stellar atmosphere leading to asymmetric and stochastic fluctuations of the dust formation and thus to disturbances of the overall bipolar geometry.

Consistent with preliminary results from our radiative transfer calculations (Men’shchikov et al. 1999, in preparation), the cometary shapes of A in the H and the J images and the 0.79 $`\mu `$m and 1.06 $`\mu `$m HST images (Haniff & Buscher 1998) suggest that the core of A is not the central star, but the central star is at or near B, between the northern and southern J–band lobes separated by $``$ 500 mas. B is very red (H-K$``$4.2) and, therefore, it is not visible in the J–band image. If the star is now at or near B, then the components A, C, D and the northern components in the J image are probably located at the inner boundary of the dust shell. The radiative transfer models imply that the polar axis is inclined by intermediate angles (roughly 50) with respect to the plane of the sky.

## 3. Diffraction-limited speckle masking studies of R Cas, AFGL 2290, and the Red Rectangle

In addition to IRC +10 216 we have studied the wavelength dependence of the size and the shape of the Mira stars R Cas (Weigelt et al. 1996) and R Leo, the aspherical dust shell of the oxygen-rich AGB star AFGL 2290 (Gauger et al. 1999), and the bipolar structure of the Red Rectangle (Men’shchikov et al. 1998). One-dimensional radiative transfer modelling of AFGL 2290 and two-dimensional radiative transfer modelling of the Red Rectangle was used for the interpretation of the observations.

### Acknowledgments.

This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France.

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