H2O Ice in the Envelopes of OH/IRStars

A. W. Meyer; R. G. Smith; S. B. Charnley; Y. J. Pendleton

doi:10.1086/300363

H₂O Ice in the Envelopes of OH/IR Stars

A. W. Meyer^1,2, R. G. Smith^1,3, S. B. Charnley^1,4, and Y. J. Pendleton¹

© 1998. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 115, Number 6 Citation A. W. Meyer et al 1998 AJ 115 2509 DOI 10.1086/300363

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¹ Space Science Division, MS 245-3, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035

² Visiting Astronomer, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation

³ Permanent address: School of Physics, University College, University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

⁴ Also Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley

Dates

Received 1997 November 12
Accepted 1998 February 17

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Abstract

In an attempt to better understand the conditions under which molecules condense onto grains in the envelopes of evolved stars, we have searched for the presence of H₂O ice in the circumstellar envelopes of several evolved (OH/IR) stars. The sample of stars observed was selected on the basis of mass-loss rates, luminosities, and outflow velocities in order to cover a range of physical conditions that might affect the amount of ice present in stellar envelopes. Despite the clear presence of H₂O ice around other, previously observed, evolved stars, our search in six OH/IR stars has resulted in only one clear detection, in OH 26.5+0.6, and the tentative detection in one other, OH 26.4-1.9. We provide column densities or upper limits for the amount of ice that is present on the grains around these stars and explore the possibility that there could be a relationship between _* or _*/L_* and the H₂O ice column density to explain the observations.

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H2O Ice in the Envelopes of OH/IR Stars