Infrared Tracers of Mass-Loss Histories and Wind-ISM Interactions in Hot Star Nebulae

TL;DR

This paper uses infrared observations from Spitzer and ISO to study mass loss, dust, and star-ISM interactions in hot star nebulae, revealing new details about stellar evolution and environmental dynamics.

Contribution

It presents new infrared spectroscopy and imaging data of hot star nebulae, notably detecting collisionally excited H2 around HDE316285, advancing understanding of stellar wind and ISM interactions.

Findings

Detection of collisionally excited H2 in a hot star nebula

Characterization of HDE316285's evolution and environment

Infrared data revealing star-ISM interaction details

Abstract

Infrared observations of hot massive stars and their environments provide a detailed picture of mass loss histories, dust formation, and dynamical interactions with the local stellar medium that can be unique to the thermal regime. We have acquired new infrared spectroscopy and imaging with the sensitive instruments onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope in guaranteed and open time programs comprised of some of the best known examples of hot stars with circumstellar nebulae, supplementing with unpublished Infrared Space Observatory spectroscopy. Here we present highlights of our work on the environment around the extreme P Cygni-type star HDE316285, revealing collisionally excited H2 for the first time in a hot star nebula, and providing some defining characteristics of the star's evolution and interactions with the ISM at unprecented detail in the infrared.