Bispectrum speckle interferometry of the B[e] star MWC 349A

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
² Special Astrophysical Observatory, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Zelenchuk district, 369167, Karachai-Chirkassian Republic, Russia
³ Central Astronomical Observatory RAS at Pulkovo, Pulkovo 65/1, 196140 St. Petersburg, Russia
⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA

Corresponding author: K.-H. Hofmann, khh@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de

Received: 24 June 2002
Accepted: 10 September 2002

Abstract

We present the results of bispectrum speckle interferometry of the B[e] star MWC 349A obtained with the SAO 6 m telescope. Our diffraction-limited J-, H-, and K-band images (resolutions 43–74 mas) suggest the star is surrounded by a circumstellar disk seen almost edge-on. The observed visibility shape is consistent with a two-component elliptical disk model, probably corresponding to the gaseous and dusty components of the disk. We show that the classification of the object as a pre-main-sequence star or a young planetary nebula is problematic. An analysis of the uncertainties in the basic parameter determination leads us to the conclusion that MWC 349A is probably either a B[e] supergiant or a binary system, in which the B[e]-companion dominates the observed properties.