Circumstellar C2, CN, and CH+ in the optical spectra of post-AGB stars

TL;DR

This study analyzes optical spectra of post-AGB stars revealing molecular features like C2, CN, and CH+, and links their presence to dust temperature, expansion velocity, and mass-loss rates, confirming their circumstellar origin.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed characterization of circumstellar C2, CN, and CH+ molecules in post-AGB stars, linking molecular features to dust temperature and stellar wind properties.

Findings

C2 and CN absorption correlates with cold dust (<300K).

CH+ is associated with hot dust (>300K).

Molecular absorption lines indicate circumstellar origin and allow mass-loss rate estimation.

Abstract

We present optical high-resolution spectra of a sample of sixteen post-AGB stars and IRC +10216. Of the post-AGB stars, ten show C2 Phillips and Swan and CN Red System absorption, one CH+ emission, one CH+ absorption, and four without any molecules. We find typically Trot=43-399, 155-202, and 18-50 K, log N = 14.90-15.57, 14.35, and 15.03-16.47 cm-2 for C2, CH+, and CN respectively, and 0.6<N(CN)/N(C2)<11.2. We did not detect isotopic lines, which places a lower limit on the isotope ratio of 12C/13C>20. The presence of C2 and CN absorption is correlated with cold dust (Tdust<300K) and the presence of CH+ with hot dust (Tdust>300K). All objects with the unidentified 21mum emission feature exhibit C2 and CN absorption, but not all objects with C2 and CN detections exhibit a 21mum feature. The derived expansion velocity, ranging from 5 to 44 km/s, is the same as that derived from CO millimeter line emission. This unambiguously proves that these lines are of circumstellar origin and are formed in the AGB ejecta (circumstellar shell expelled during the preceding AGB phase). Furthermore there seems to be a relation between the C2 molecular column density and the expansion velocity, which is attributed to the fact that a higher carbon abundance of the dust leads to a more efficient acceleration of the AGB wind. Using simple assumptions for the location of the molecular lines and molecular abundances, mass-loss rates have been derived from the molecular absorption lines and are comparable to those obtained from CO emission lines and the infrared excess.