The VLT/SPHERE view of the ATOMIUM cool evolved star sample

I. Overview: Sample characterization through polarization analysis^★

¹ LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris-Cité, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon, France
e-mail: miguel.montarges@observatoiredeparis.psl.eu
² Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
³ University of Amsterdam, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
⁴ Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, 439 92 Onsala, Sweden
⁵ Université Côte d’Azur, Laboratoire Lagrange, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France
⁶ University of Leeds, School of Chemistry, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
⁷ Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
⁸ Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
⁹ Institut d’Astronomie et d'Astrophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CP 226, 1060 Brussels, Belgium
¹⁰ SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, 3584 CA Utrecht, The Netherlands
¹¹ Radboud University, Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP), Nijmegen, The Netherlands
¹² California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
¹³ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
¹⁴ National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, Chiangmai 50180, Thailand
¹⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, 53121 Bonn, Germany
¹⁶ University College London, Department of Physics and Astronomy, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
¹⁷ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
¹⁸ Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Kemigården 4, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
¹⁹ Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique, 300 rue de la Piscine, 38406 Saint-Martin-d’Hères, France
²⁰ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
²¹ Université de Bordeaux, Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, 33615 Pessac, France
²² Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK
²³ Universität zu Köln, I. Physikalisches Institut, 50937 Köln, Germany

Received: 7 November 2022
Accepted: 21 December 2022

Abstract

Context. Low- and intermediate-mass asymptotic giant stars and massive red supergiant stars are important contributors to the chemical enrichment of the Universe. They are among the most efficient dust factories of the Galaxy, harboring chemically rich circumstellar environments. Yet, the processes that lead to dust formation or the large-scale shaping of the mass loss still escape attempts at modeling.

Aims. Through the ATOMIUM project, we aim to present a consistent view of a sample of 17 nearby cool evolved stars. Our goals are to unveil the dust-nucleation sites and morphologies of the circumstellar envelope of such stars and to probe ambient environments with various conditions. This will further enhance our understanding of the roles of stellar convection and pulsations, and that of companions in shaping the dusty circumstellar medium.

Methods. Here we present and analyze VLT/SPHERE-ZIMPOL polarimetric maps obtained in the visible (645–820 nm) of 14 out of the 17 ATOMIUM sources. They were obtained contemporaneously with the ALMA high spatial resolution data. To help interpret the polarized signal, we produced synthetic maps of light scattering by dust, through 3D radiative transfer simulations with the RADMC3D code.

Results. The degree of linear polarization (DoLP) observed by ZIMPOL spreads across several optical filters. We infer that it primarily probes dust located just outside of the point spread function of the central source, and in or near the plane of the sky. The polarized signal is mainly produced by structures with a total optical depth close to unity in the line of sight, and it represents only a fraction of the total circumstellar dust. The maximum DoLP ranges from 0.03–0.38 depending on the source, fractions that can be reproduced by our 3D pilot models for grains composed of olivine, melilite, corundum, enstatite, or forsterite. The spatial structure of the DoLP shows a diverse set of shapes, including clumps, arcs, and full envelopes. Only for three sources do we note a correlation between the ALMA CO υ = 0, J = 2−1 and SiO υ = 0, J = 5−4 lines, which trace the gas density, and the DoLP, which traces the dust.

Conclusions. The clumpiness of the DoLP and the lack of a consistent correlation between the gas and the dust location show that, in the inner environment, dust formation occurs at very specific sites. This has potential consequences for the derived mass-loss rates and dust-to-gas ratio in the inner region of the circumstellar environment. Except for π¹ Gru and perhaps GY Aql, we do not detect interactions between the circumstellar wind and the hypothesized companions that shape the wind at larger scales. This suggests that the orbits of any other companions are tilted out of the plane of the sky.