Multiple outflows in the bipolar planetary nebula M1-16: A molecular line study

  • Raghvendra Sahai
  • , Alwyn Wootten
  • , Hugo E. Schwarz
  • , W. Wild

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Extensive observations of the molecular gas in the young, compact planetary nebula M1-16 have been made, using the Swedish-ESO-Submillimeter Telescope. A map of the CO J = 2-1 emission shows that the molecular envelope contains both a slow and a fast outflow with expansion velocities of 19 km/s and greater than 34 km/s,respectively. The slow outflow is mildly elliptical, while the fast molecular outflow is bipolar. This fast outflow is roughly aligned with the very fast outflows recently found in the optical, while the long axis of the slow elliptical outflow is roughly orthogonal to the optical outflow axis. The kinematic timescales for the CO fast outflow and the optical very fast outflow agree closely, supporting the view that the former represents material in the slow outflow accelerated by the very fast outflow. The kinematic signature of a disk expanding with about15.5 km/s can also be seen in the CO J = 2-1 data. The mass-loss rate(a) for the slow outflow is greater than or equal to 2.8 x10-5 solar mass/yr and possibly as large as 9 x10-5 solar mass/yr, (b) for the fast outflow is greater than or equal to 5 x 10-6 solar mass/yr, and (c) for the very fast optically visible outflow is approximately equal 5 x 10-7solar mass/yr. The disk mass is approximately equal 6 x 10-3solar mass. Grain photoelectric heating results in temperatures of 20-70K in molecular gas of the slow outflow. The (13)C/(12)C abundance ratio in M1-16 is found to be 0.33, quite possibly the highest found for any evolved object. Upper limits for the (18)O/(16)O and (17)O/(16)O ratios were found to be consistent with the values found in AGB stars. A search for other molecular species in M1-16 resulted in the detection of the high-excitation species HCN, CN, (13)CN, HCO(+), and H(13)CO(+) and possibly N2H(+). Both the HCO(+)/HCN and CN/HCN line-intensity ratios are enhanced, the former by a very large factor, over the values found in the envelopes of AGB stars, probably as a result of enhancement of the CN and HCO(+) abundances due to photo chemistry induced by the stellar UV. The CS J = 2-1, SiO J = 2-1 (v = 0), and SiS J = 6-5 lines were not detected to low levels. For the high-excitation molecules,adequate collisional excitation of rotational levels and survival against photo dissociation by the UV radiation requires significant clumping of the molecular gas into clumps with H2 densities approximately 105/cu cm. The IRAS fluxes of M1-16, assuming negligible contribution from line emission, imply the presence of about(1.7-0.4) x 10-3 solar mass of cool dust (temperature around50 K) and a smaller quantity, (2.7-3.1) x 10-6 solar mass, of warmer dust (temperature around 125 K) for a power-law emissivity index p = 1-2. The evolutionary nature of M1-16 cannot be explained by existing single-star models of post-AGB evolution. The very high(13)C/(12)C abundance ratio in M1-16 suggests a possible evolutionary connection between M1-16 and the rare class of J-type silicate-carbon stars which also have high (13)C/(12)C ratios and are thought to be binary systems with accretion disks.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)237-249
Number of pages13
JournalThe Astrophysical Journal
Volume428
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1-Jun-1994

Keywords

  • Flow Distribution
  • Flow Velocity
  • Gas Flow
  • Mass Flow Rate
  • Molecular Clouds
  • Planetary Nebulae
  • Stellar Mass Ejection
  • Abundance
  • Accretion Disks
  • Cosmic Dust
  • Interstellar Gas
  • Line Spectra
  • Mass Ratios

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