Free access article

Issue A&A Volume 392, Number 1, September II 2002 Page(s) 203 - 213 Section Stellar atmospheres DOI 10.1051/0004-6361:20020924

A&A 392, 203-213 (2002)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20020924

Formation of carbon grains in the atmosphere of IRC+10216

I. The role of periodic shocks in the formation of PAHs and their dimers

P. Cau

Department of Physics, UMIST, PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD, UK LUTH, Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, 92195 Meudon, France

(Received 4 September 2001 / Accepted 17 June (2002) )

Abstract
We investigate the contribution of periodic shocks to the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their dimers in the inner atmosphere of IRC+10216. The goal of this paper is to look at the implications this has for the formation of carbon dust if PAHs are an intermediate step. It is shown that the amount of PAHs and dimers produced is not enough to explain the formation of carbon dust in the atmosphere of the star, but it can account for the formation of the small disordered cores of the kind observed in presolar grains.

Key words: stars: circumstellar matter -- stars: AGB -- stars: individual: IRC+10216

SIMBAD Objects

© ESO 2002

What is OpenURL?