SOFIA/FORCAST Monitoring of the Dust Emission from R Aqr: Start of the Eclipse

TL;DR

This study monitors dust emission changes in R Aquarii during its eclipse using SOFIA/FORCAST, revealing increased dust density and stable grain composition, with models indicating mid-IR flux variations are due to dust density rather than composition changes.

Contribution

First mid-IR spectral monitoring of R Aquarii during eclipse with radiative transfer modeling to analyze dust properties and emission variations.

Findings

Mid-IR flux, especially the 10 μm silicate feature, increased during eclipse.

Dust density around R Aqr increased, but grain composition remained unchanged.

Luminosity dependence on pulsation phase was unaffected by the eclipse.

Abstract

We present mid-infrared spectra from our continued monitoring of R Aquarii, the nearest symbiotic Mira, using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). New photometric and spectroscipic data were obtained with the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) in 2018 and 2019 after the system had started its "eclipse", during which it became two magnitudes fainter in the visual. The mid-IR flux, in particular the 10 mu-m silicate feature, have strengthened compared with the previous cycles. Radiative transfer models for the circumstellar dust emission were calculated for the new spectra, and re-calculated for those previously obtained using more appropriate values of the near-IR magnitudes to constrain the properties of the AGB spectra heating the dust. The modeling shows that the luminosity dependence on pulsation phase is not affected by the onset of the eclipse, and that the increase in the mid-IR flux is due to a higher dust density. The models also confirm our earlier results that micron-size grains are present, and that no changes in the grain composition are required to explain the variations in the spectra.