Marie
Van de Sande
*a,
Catherine
Walsh
a and
Tom J.
Millar
b
aSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. E-mail: m.vandesande@leeds.ac.uk
bAstrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
First published on 17th April 2023
Observations of the outflows of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars continue to reveal their chemical and dynamical complexity. Spherical asymmetries, such as spirals and disks, are prevalent and thought to be caused by binary interaction with a (sub)stellar companion. Furthermore, high density outflows show evidence of dust–gas interactions. The classical chemical model of these outflows – a gas-phase only, spherically symmetric chemical kinetics model – is hence not appropriate for the majority of observed outflows. We have included several physical and chemical advancements step-by-step: a porous density distribution, dust–gas chemistry, and internal UV photons originating from a close-by stellar companion. Now, we combine these layers of complexity into the most chemically and physically advanced chemical kinetics model of AGB outflows to date. By varying over all model parameters, we obtain a holistic view of the outflow's composition and how it (inter)depends on the different complexities. A stellar companion has the largest influence, especially when combined with a porous outflow. We compile sets of gas-phase molecules that trace the importance of dust–gas chemistry and allow us to infer the presence of a companion and porosity of the outflow. This shows that our new chemical model can be used to infer physical and chemical properties of specific outflows, as long as a suitable range of molecules is observed.
The chemical content of the outflow is determined by the elemental carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) of the AGB star, linked to its initial mass and evolutionary stage. Stars with C/O < 1 give rise to an oxygen-rich (O-rich) outflow, while stars with C/O > 1 have a carbon-rich (C-rich) outflow. The outflows of AGB stars are rich astrochemical laboratories: close to 100 different molecules and some 15 types of newly formed dust species have been detected so far. Moreover, they are host to different types of chemistry thanks to the large gradients in density and temperature present throughout the outflow. Three main regions can be distinguished: non-equilibrium chemistry caused by shocks due to stellar pulsations close to the star, followed by dust condensation and dust–gas interaction, to photochemistry initiated by interstellar UV photons in the tenuous outer region.5
Chemical models of AGB outflows are divided into two main groups, dealing with the non-equilibrium chemistry close to the star6–9 or with the photochemistry of the outer wind.10–13 Both types of models include gas-phase chemistry only and assume a spherically symmetric outflow. Observations continue to reveal discrepancies with model predictions, putting an increasingly larger strain on these two assumptions. Spherically asymmetric outflows are common: both small-scale inhomogeneities or clumps14–16 and large-scale structures such as spirals17,18 and disks,19,20 are widely observed. These large-scale structures are thought to be caused by binary interaction with a (sub)stellar companion. Most AGB stars with mass-loss rates larger than ∼10−7 M⊙ y−1 will have at least one planetary and/or stellar companion.21 The potential presence of another star complicates the chemical picture even further as it produces an internal UV radiation field.
Moreover, in both O-rich and C-rich outflows, the abundance of refractory species (e.g., SiO, SiS, and CS) is observed to decrease with increasing outflow density, hinting towards depletion onto dust grains.22,23 The abundance of SiO and SiS is observed to decrease in the intermediate wind of high density O-rich outflows, before the onset of dust formation,24,25 and H2O ice has been detected around OH/IR stars.26
To better explain observations, we have increased the physical and chemical complexity of earlier gas-phase only models through the inclusion of: a clumpy density distribution,28 dust–gas chemistry,29–31 and internal UV photons originating from a close-by stellar companion.32,33 This was done step-by-step, adding separate layers of complexity to investigate their effects on the composition of the outflow in isolation. While clumpy outflows were considered when including internal UV photons, the interdependencies of the other complexities have not yet been explored. To this end, we have combined all previous developments in the most physically and chemically complex chemical model of AGB outflows to date. This increases the model's resolution by extending the chemical validity of the model from the outer wind into the dust interaction zone and increasing its applicability to spherically asymmetric outflows.
Exploring the interplay of the model developments enables us to determine how the chemistry of the outflow depends on its structure and the presence of a (sub)stellar companion. By maintaining a holistic view of the chemical composition throughout the outflow and the different chemical and physical processes included, we are able to determine a suite of molecules that indicate the presence of (a combination of) these complexities. This makes the chemical model a powerful tool to interpret observations and reveal the hidden cause of dynamical structures.
We describe the chemical model in Section 2, along with the different complexities and their limitations. We present the results for C-rich and O-rich outflows in Section 3. Discussion and conclusions follow in Section 4 and 5.
(1) |
Table 1 lists the different fixed and variable model parameters along with their values adopted in this work. For each configuration, we calculate an O-rich and a C-rich outflow. The parent species for the O-rich and C-rich outflows are listed in Table 2. These species are assumed to be present at the start of the model; they are taken from Agúndez et al.,36 who compiled (ranges of) observed abundances in the inner region. We consider three outflow densities, determined by the mass-loss rate, Ṁ and the expansion velocity, v∞. The value of v∞ and the drift velocity vdrift for each mass-loss rate is estimated from observations.22,37–40
Fixed parameters | |
---|---|
Physical parameters | |
Stellar radius, R* | 5 × 1013 cm |
Stellar temperature, T* | 2330 K |
Exponent T(r), ε | 0.7 |
Dust parameters | |
O-rich dust composition | 50/50 melilite and silica with Fe |
C-rich dust composition | Amorphous carbon |
Dust-to-gas mass ratio | 2 × 10−3 |
Surface density of binding sites | 1015 cm−2 |
Silicate dust bulk density27 | 3.5 g cm−3 |
Carbonaceous dust bulk density27 | 2.24 g cm−3 |
Variable parameters | |
---|---|
Physical parameters | |
Initial radius | 1.025 × Rdust |
Grid of outflow densities | |
Mass-loss rate Ṁ | 10−5 M⊙ y−1; 15 km s−1; 5 km s−1 |
Expansion velocity, v∞ | 10−6 M⊙ y−1; 10 km s−1; 10 km s−1 |
And drift velocity, vdrift | 10−7 M⊙ y−1; 5 km s−1; 15 km s−1 |
Grid of density structures | |
Smooth outflow | |
Porous outflows, with | |
Interclump density contrast | f ic = 0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 |
Clump volume filling factor | f vol = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 |
Size of the clumps at R* | l * = 5 × 1012, 1013 cm |
Dust parameters | |
Grain size distributions | |
Minimum grain size, amin | 10−8 cm; 10−6 cm; −3.5 |
Maximum grain size, amax | 5 × 10−7 cm; 2.5 × 10−5 cm; −3.5 |
And power-law exponent, η | 10−6 cm; 10−4 cm; −4.5 |
Companion parameters | |
Onset of dust extinction, Rdust | 2, 5 R* |
Companion temp., Tcomp | 4000 K; 1.53 × 1010 cm |
And radius, Rcomp | 6000 K; 8.14 × 1010 cm |
10000 K; 6.96 × 108 cm |
Carbon-rich | Oxygen-rich | ||
---|---|---|---|
Species | Abundance | Species | Abundance |
He | 0.17 | He | 0.17 |
CO | 8.00 × 10−4 | CO | 3.00 × 10−4 |
N2 | 4.00 × 10−5 | H2O | 2.15 × 10−4 |
CH4 | 3.50 × 10−6 | N2 | 4.00 × 10−5 |
H2O | 2.55 × 10−6 | SiO | 2.71 × 10−5 |
SiC2 | 1.87 × 10−5 | H2S | 1.75 × 10−5 |
CS | 1.06 × 10−5 | SO2 | 3.72 × 10−6 |
C2H2 | 4.38 × 10−5 | SO | 3.06 × 10−6 |
HCN | 4.09 × 10−5 | SiS | 9.53 × 10−7 |
SiS | 5.98 × 10−6 | NH3 | 6.25 × 10−7 |
SiO | 5.02 × 10−6 | CO2 | 3.00 × 10−7 |
HCl | 3.25 × 10−7 | HCN | 2.59 × 10−7 |
C2H4 | 6.85 × 10−8 | PO | 7.75 × 10−8 |
NH3 | 6.00 × 10−8 | CS | 5.57 × 10−8 |
HCP | 2.50 × 10−8 | PN | 1.50 × 10−8 |
HF | 1.70 × 10−8 | HCl | 1.00 × 10−8 |
H2S | 4.00 × 10−9 | HF | 1.00 × 10−8 |
We outline important features and parameters of the physical and chemical developments along with our previous main findings in Section 2.1 and 2.2, respectively. For additional details, we refer to the original works. In Section 2.3, we elaborate on the assumptions made when implementing the developments and the limitations of the model. The different complexities included in the chemical model are illustrated in Fig. 1.
The specific clumpiness of the outflow is described by three parameters: (i) the clump volume filling factor, fvol, setting the fraction of the total volume of the outflow occupied by clumps, (ii) the interclump density contrast, fic, setting the fraction of the outflow density within the interclump component, and (iii) the size of the clumps at the stellar surface, l*. Clump size and volume filling factor can be combined into the porosity length h = l*/fvol, which represents the local mean free path between clumps. Highly porous outflows have a large porosity length, due to a large l* and/or small fvol, combined with a low interclump density contrast.
In our previous work,28,45 which included gas-phase only chemistry and no internal UV photons, we found that the effects of the local overdensity of clumps is small, while those of the change in optical depth can be considerable. With increasing porosity, parent species are photodissociated closer to the star, though still in the outer region. This leads to larger abundances of daughter species as well as a shift in their peak abundances closer to the star. However, these changes are of the order of one magnitude or less.
The network allows for gas-phase species to accrete onto dust grains, forming a physisorbed ice mantle which can be returned to the gas-phase via thermal desorption, photodesorption, and mechanical sputtering. Reactions in the ice mantle can occur via the diffusive Langmuir–Hinshelwood and stick-and-hit Eley–Rideal mechanisms, which both can give rise to reactive desorption. Icy species can be photodissociated, with the products either remaining on the dust or being returned to the gas-phase. The photoprocessing of ices is limited to complex species only, which we define as species containing at least three C atoms or two C atoms and another heavy atom.
As dust nucleation is not included in the network, dust grains are assumed to be present at the start of the model with a constant density. The dust has a drift velocity, vdrift relative to the gas, defined as vdrift = vdust − v∞. The grain size distribution (GSD) is fixed and parametrised following the MRN grain-size distribution,30,48 where the dust grain number density per unit volume is given by
(2) |
The dust's temperature is approximated by a power law
(3) |
In our previous work,29–31 we found that dust–gas chemistry can have a large impact on higher density outflows (Ṁ ≥ 10−6 M⊙ y−1). Parent species with higher binding energies are depleted onto dust grain, while daughter species can be formed in the ice mantle and released by photodesorption in the outer regions.29 The depletion level is influenced by the GSD, where GSDs with larger average surface areas (caused by a smaller amin and/or steeper slopes) lead to larger depletion of parent species.30 The formation of an ice mantle mainly depends on outflow density and the chemistry of the outflow, with up to 100 monolayers of H2O-rich ice building up in very high density O-rich outflows and sub-monolayer coverage only (∼0.1 monolayers) in C-rich outflows.29 Refractory organic material is more readily formed in C-rich outflows thanks to a larger abundance of C-rich feedstock ices, forming up to 0.2 monolayers, compared to negligible coverage (∼10−5 only) for O-rich outflows.
Unlike a planetary companion, a stellar companion's UV radiation field initiates UV-driven chemistry in this otherwise shielded inner wind. UV photons originating from either the AGB star itself32 or a companion star33 are included in the reaction network as additional photoreactions. UV fluxes are approximated by blackbody radiation, set by the temperature of the AGB star, T*, or the temperature of the companion, Tcomp, together with the radius of the companion, Rcomp. We consider three types of companion: a red dwarf (Tcomp = 4000 K, Rcomp = 1.53 × 1010 cm), a solar-like star (Tcomp = 6000 K, Rcomp = 8.14 × 1010 cm), and a white dwarf (Tcomp = 10000 K and Rcomp = 6.96 × 108 cm). Unshielded photodissociation and photoionisation rates were calculated using cross sections where available, which were mainly taken from the Leiden Observatory Database.§49 If not available, the rates were estimated by scaling the unshielded interstellar rate by the ratio of the integrated fluxes of the stellar or companion photons in the 912–2150 Å range. The scaling factors and the corrections for overestimated photoionisation rates can be found in Van de Sande and Millar.33
Internal UV photons are diluted geometrically as well as extinguished by dust. The visual extinction caused by dust experienced by internal photons, determined by the outflow density, porosity, and Rdust, and the intensity of the radiation, determined by Tcomp and Rcomp. The companion star is assumed to lie within the dust free region before Rdust.
While the impact of AGB UV photons is limited because of their low blackbody temperatures,32 that of companion UV photons can be substantial throughout the entire outflow. Solar-like companions have the largest influence, whilst white dwarf companions have a smaller effect. The impact of red dwarf companions is not significant. The result of the photochemistry induced by companion UV photons depends mostly on the extinction experienced by the photons and the intensity of the radiation. In low extinction outflows, characterised by a low outflow density and/or a high porosity, photoreactions occur faster than two-body reactions. This inhibits the reformation of parent species and chemistry among photoproducts, reducing the outflow to a mostly atomic and ionised state and making it appear apparently molecule-poor. In high extinction outflows, characterised by high outflow density and/or low porosity, two-body reactions occur faster than photoreactions, increasing the chemical complexity of the outflow. Daughter species that are formed in the outer regions can now be produced in the inner regions, resulting in a parent-like abundance profile which consists of a large inner region abundance followed by a Gaussian decline due to photodissociation by interstellar UV photons in the outer envelope.
Dust nucleation is not included in the model: all dust is assumed to present at the start of the model with a fixed GSD. Hence, we assume that dust formation has taken place in the inner region before the start of the model and that GSD is kept constant throughout the calculations, as ices and refractory organic material are physisorbed rather than chemisorbed.
Since the same method of calculating photoreaction rates is used for companion and AGB UV photons, this implies that the companion is located at the centre of the star. However, misplacing the companion by up to 5 R*, the largest value of Rdust (Table 1), is negligible compared to the scale of the outflow. Additionally, the companion's radiation field is continuously present in our one-dimensional model. In Van de Sande and Millar,33 we argue that occultation of the close-by companion by the AGB star likely has a limited effect on the chemistry, making our model a reasonable first-order approximation of the effects of a companion within the dust forming region.
The influence of different (combinations of) complexities on the gas-phase composition and the dust's ice and refractory coverage at the end of the outflow is discussed in Section 3.1 and 3.2 for O-rich and C-rich outflows, respectively. The results shown in this Section all assume the MRN distribution for the GSD. Any differences caused by changing the GSD are discussed in Section 4. All fractional abundances are expressed relative to H2, which follows a r−2 distribution.
The ESI† shows the fractional abundance profiles of all parent species and their daughters, along with all species that show a significant change in abundance when including a companion. It also includes the number of monolayers of dust and ice for all assumed GSDs and the ice and refractory coverage at the end of the outflow for the GSDs different to the MRN distribution.
Fig. 2 shows the abundance of the parent SO in outflows with different densities, porosities, and companions. Including porosity and dust–gas chemistry, separately or combined, does not affect its abundance profile significantly. Including a companion only decreases the inner wind abundance in lower density outflows, creating a bumped abundance profile. The largest effects are seen when combining a companion and porosity. For a red dwarf companion, the SO profile becomes bumped, with a decreased inner wind abundance by up to four orders of magnitude followed by a peak in abundance, as outflow density decreases and porosity increases. Higher density outflows with a smooth or low porosity density distribution are not affected. Including a white dwarf leads to similar profiles, with lower porosities now also resulting in a bumped profile in the higher density outflows, with a decrease in the inner wind abundance of up to two orders of magnitude. For Ṁ = 10−7 M⊙ y−1, the peak of the bump decreases with increasing porosity. In higher density outflows, a highly porous outflow gives rise to a wider bump, ranging from the inner wind to where SO is photodissociated by interstellar UV photons.
The abundance of the daughter HS is shown in Fig. 3. In the fiducial model, HS is present in a shell in the outer wind, where it is formed via photodissociation of the parent H2S. Including porosity alone leads to a widening of the shell, especially in lower density outflows. Dust–gas chemistry alone has some influence on the inner wind abundance, increasing it by a factor of a few in higher density outflows. Again, including a companion shows the largest influence. Including a red dwarf or white dwarf changes the abundance profile to a high inner wind abundance followed by a sharp decline of at least five orders of magnitude and a bump in abundance in the outer wind. The bump's abundance decreases with increasing porosity, flattening the abundance profile. In high density outflows with a low porosity, we find that the inner wind abundance of HS increases by up to two orders of magnitude, even making it appear parent-like in a smooth outflow with Ṁ = 10−6 M⊙ y−1. For a solar-like companion, HS is not efficiently reformed, lowering its abundance in the outer wind. In lower density, high porosity outflows, the abundance profile is flattened. Dust–gas chemistry leads to a large difference of more than five orders of magnitude compared to gas-phase only chemistry in porous, high density outflows, with HS severely decreased in the inner regions when including dust–gas chemistry.
The number of ice monolayers covering the dust at the end of the outflow is shown in Fig. 4. We take the end of the outflow where the H2 number density is equal to 10 cm−3. In outflows with Ṁ = 10−5 M⊙ y−1, porosity increases the ice coverage by up to an order of magnitude, from a coverage of ∼1% to ∼10%. In lower density outflows, this ice coverage increases by up to an order of magnitude, but remains low: we find an ice coverage of up to ∼0.01% for Ṁ = 10−6 M⊙ y−1 and ∼0.001% for Ṁ = 10−7 M⊙ y−1. Including porosity, increases the coverage of the dust by up to a monolayer, with the largest increases seen for smaller values of fic as a smaller fraction of the envelope mass is in the interclump component for these outflows. When adding a companion, an increase of up to five orders of magnitude and a decrease of up to two orders of magnitude is possible. The final coverage can increase to several monolayers for Ṁ = 10−5 M⊙ y−1, and stays below 10% and 0.001% for Ṁ = 10−6 and 10−7 M⊙ y−1.
Fig. 5 shows the abundance of the parent SiO in outflows with different densities, porosities, and companions. Porosity and dust–gas chemistry, combined or separate, do not have a significant impact on the chemistry, neither does including a red dwarf companion. Including a solar-like companion leads to decreases in abundance as porosity increases, with smooth outflows showing a decreases of 2 to 3 orders of magnitude in lower density outflows. When including a white dwarf companion, the profile changes to a bumped profile, similar to SO in O-rich outflows. The inner wind abundances decrease by 2 to 4 orders of magnitude, depending on the outflow's density and porosity, with a bump in abundance around 10−7 in the outer wind. The abundance of the bump decreases with increasing porosity in lower density outflows.
Fig. 6 shows the abundance of H2CS. We find that including porosity increases the abundance peak up to a factor of five and widens the peak in the lower density outflows. Including a red dwarf leads to parent-like abundance profiles with increasing porosity. For a solar-like star, this occurs with decreasing porosity. In lower density outflows, the abundance profile flattens with increasing porosity. Including a white dwarf leads to a mix of the two previous effects: at high outflow densities, H2CS becomes parent-like with increasing porosity; at low densities with decreasing porosity. In the outflow with Ṁ = 10−7 M⊙ y−1, a high porosity results in a large inner wind abundance followed by a steep decline.
The number of refractory monolayers covering the dust at the end of the outflow is shown in Fig. 7. The dust's refractory coverage in C-rich outflows with Ṁ = 10−5 M⊙ y−1 increases with porosity from ∼1.5% in the smooth outflow up to two orders of magnitude to a complete grain coverage of 1. In lower density outflows, the refractory coverage is increased by up to three orders of magnitude with porosity reaching coverages of ∼10%. In C-rich outflows, a companion can lead to an increase in refractory coverage of up to one order of magnitude and a decrease of up to two orders of magnitude at low outflow densities. Nevertheless, the coverage stays below 10%, 1%, and 0.01% in outflows with Ṁ = 10−5, 10−6, and 10−7 M⊙ y−1, respectively.
Including dust–gas chemistry does not lead to significant depletion of parent species for dust grains following the canonical MRN GSD and the GSD with larger grains than MRN. Assuming silicates without Fe only, likely leads to more significant depletion in O-rich outflows.29 However, most O-rich outflows host a mixture of dust grains, including warmer grains that have Fe inclusions,50 leading to smaller depletion levels. Parent species are depleted onto dust assuming a GSD with smaller dust grains because of the larger number density of grain surface sites per unit volume. For dust grains following the GSD with smaller dust grains, parent species with high binding energies (e.g., SiO, SiS, H2O) are depleted onto dust grains in outflows with Ṁ = 10−5 M⊙ y−1. In O-rich outflows, the depletion takes place around 2 × 1016 cm, in C-rich outflows around 4 × 1016 cm. Certain species, such as SiH4, are efficiently formed via surface chemistry. These gas-phase tracers of dust–gas chemistry are released into the gas phase in the outer wind, forming a molecular shell (Section 4.2.1). Assuming a GSD with smaller grains increases the abundance of the gas-phase tracers by about an order of magnitude.
Including a stellar companion alone has the largest effect on the chemistry. For smooth outflows, its effect is limited to lower density outflows (corresponding to lower extinction outflows) with a solar-like or white dwarf companion. A red dwarf companion does not significantly impact the chemistry. Sub-stellar brown dwarfs are therefore not expected to have a significant impact.
When combining complexities, the impact on the dust- and gas-phase chemistry becomes more apparent. Porosity together with a stellar companion in a gas-phase only chemistry chemical model has been described in Van de Sande and Millar33 (see Section 2.2.2).
The coverages are not significantly changed when assuming a GSD with larger dust grains than MRN. When assuming smaller dust grains, the ice and refractory coverage in both outflows decreases by a factor of a few, with porosity leading to a smaller possible increase. While gas-phase species are now depleted, leading to a larger total abundance of ice and refractory material, the larger number density of dust surface sites per unit volume leads to a smaller number of monolayers.
Including a companion generally increases the abundance of the gas-phase tracers of dust–gas chemistry, present in a shell in the outer wind. We find increases of about two orders of magnitude compared to a smooth outflow and of about one order of magnitude compared to clumpy outflows. However, certain species are destroyed by including a companion (see Section 4.2). Assuming a GSD with smaller dust grains than MRN leads to a further increase by about an order of magnitude.
In C-rich outflows, the reactivity of the surface chemistry is the main cause for an increase in final ice coverage. The increase mainly takes place in low extinction outflows, where surface chemistry efficiently forms H2O ice. Surface chemistry also has an indirect effect on the ice coverage. In outflows with Ṁ = 10−5 M⊙ y−1, the peak abundance of SiS ice can increase by an order of magnitude with the peak broadening by half a magnitude in both O-rich and C-rich outflows. SiS ice is only formed via accretion from the gas phase. The gas-phase abundance of SiS increases in this region via the reaction SiH+2 + S → HSiS+, which dissociatively recombines with electrons to form SiS. SiH+2 is produced by photoionisation of SiH2, formed on the surface and released into the gas phase by photodesorption.
Their peak abundances depend on the presence of other complexities. When porosity is included, they increase by roughly an order of magnitude. Including a companion leads to an increase of two orders of magnitude, which can increase by an additional order of magnitude when combining it with porosity.
O-rich outflows have two additional tracers: NH2OH and H2O2. NH2OH reaches abundances of 5 × 10−9 around 3 × 1017 cm. Its abundance decreases by an order of magnitude when including a solar-like companion, decreasing further when increasing the outflow's porosity. H2O2 is present in a broad shell from about 1016 to 1017 cm, with a peak abundance of a few times 10−7. The shell becomes narrower when including a companion, shifting to 1017 cm. Highly porous outflows decrease its abundance by an order of magnitude; in the case of a solar-like companion, its abundance is drastically reduced to 10−11.
We find that the chemistry in the inner region is mainly driven by the competition between O and S for the newly liberated C in the inner wind. A large number of the tracer species therefore contain sulphur. Newly liberated N in the inner wind also leads to large abundances of NS, SiN, and NO.
Red dwarf | Solar-like | White dwarf | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Parents | ||||
(i) | ↘ in abundance with ↗ porosity | C2H4, NH3 | All except HCN | All except HCN |
High porosity: C2H2, CH4 | ||||
CS, NH3, SiS | ||||
↗ in abundance with ↗ porosity | Low porosity: H2S | H2O | ||
(ii) | Bump for ↗ porosity | High porosity: H2S | Low density: SiO | |
Bump for ↘ porosity | High density: H2S | High density: SiO | ||
Daughters | ||||
(iii) | ↗ inner wind abundance with ↗ porosity | CH3, HS, NH | Low density: HS | High density: CH3 |
NH2, C6H | C2H | High density: C6H | ||
H2CS, HCSi, NS | High density: HCSi | |||
With ↘ porosity | High density: CH3 | Low density: CH3 | ||
CN, OH, HS | ||||
High density: NH, HS | ||||
HC3N, HC5N, HC7N | Low density: C6H | |||
(iv) | Parent-like with ↗ porosity | High density: SiN, SiC, SiNC | SiNC | |
With ↘ porosity | HS | CH3CN, H2CS, NS | Low density: CH3CN | |
Low density: SiN, SiC, SiNC | H2CS, NS, SiC, SiN |
We find that the parents CO, N2, and HCN are unaffected by the presence of a companion. A solar-like companion leads only to a smaller envelope size of HCN in high porosity, lower density outflows. The parent H2S is most strongly affected, its abundance profile changing to a steep decline followed by a bump, whose peak abundance decreases as the outflow density decreases, in all low density outflows and in high porosity, high density outflows. For SiO, including a white dwarf changes its abundance profile to a lower inner wind abundance followed by a bump in higher density outflows and to a shell-like profile in lower density outflows, with the abundance peak decreasing with increasing porosity.
The daughter HS follows the shape of the H2S profile. The abundance profile of SO is sensitive to the type of companion and porosity of the outflow. For a red dwarf companion, the peak in abundance of SO in the outer wind widens with increasing porosity, creating a broader shell. For a solar-like and white dwarf companion, SO becomes parent-like with increasing porosity in high density outflows, and with decreasing porosity in lower density outflows.
The behaviour of the cyanopolyynes and hydrocarbon radicals depends on outflow density and porosity for a solar-like and white dwarf companion. In low density, high porosity outflows, they show dramatically smaller abundances. For a solar-like companion, we find that the inner wind abundance of HC3N, HC5N, and HC7N increases with decreasing porosity. As porosity increases, their profiles change to a broad shell. The peak abundance drastically decreases in lower density outflows, rendering the longer chains unobservable in low density, high porosity outflows. The inner wind abundance of C2H increases in high density, high porosity outflows. For lower densities, the profile is flattened with increasing porosity, where the inner wind abundance increases while the peak abundance decreases. The profiles of C4H and C6H change to a broad peak, again disappearing in low density, high porosity outflows. For a white dwarf companion, the inner wind abundance of HC3N, HC5N, HC7N, C2H, and C4H increases with increasing porosity, with their profiles flattening in lower density outflows. The inner wind abundance of C6H increases with increasing porosity in higher density outflows. In lower density outflows, the profile flattens with increasing porosity.
Red dwarf | Solar-like | White dwarf | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Parents | ||||
(i) | ↘ in abundance with ↗ porosity | SiS, CO2, CS | CS, HCN, NH3 | CS, HCN, NH3 |
NH3, H2S | SiO, SiS, H2O | SiS, H2S | ||
CO2 (low porosity) | ||||
↗ in abundance with ↗ porosity | CO2 (high porosity) | |||
(ii) | Bump for ↗ porosity | SO, SO2 | SO, SO2 | SO, SO2, SiO |
Daughters | ||||
(iii) | ↗ inner wind abundance with ↗ porosity | Low density: HS | CN | CN, OH |
NO, N2O | NO, N2O | |||
With ↘ porosity | ||||
Parent-like with ↗ porosity | High density: HS, NS | Low density: OH | High density: SiN, NS | |
With ↘ porosity | NS, SiN, N2O | |||
(iv) | Flattening with ↗ porosity | HS, SiC, SiN, NS |
We find that the parents CO and N2 are unaffected by the presence of a companion. H2S is efficiently destroyed when including a solar-like companion, rendering it apparently absent in lower density outflows and strongly reducing its abundance in high density outflows. In high porosity outflows with a red dwarf or white dwarf companion, the abundance profile of H2S changes to a high inner wind abundance followed by a bump. In low porosity outflows, it has a smaller abundance, but parent-like shape. The abundance profiles of SO and SO2 changes to a lower initial abundance followed by a bump as porosity increases, becoming shell-like for lower densities. The envelope size of H2O and HCN becomes smaller in low density, high porosity outflows when including a white dwarf companion.
Porosity alone does not significantly impact the gas-phase composition of the outflow. It increases the ice and refractory coverage of the dust grains, with the specific increase depending on the chemistry of the outflow and the material considered.
Dust–gas chemistry does not significantly impact the gas-phase composition, except when a grain size distribution with large number of dust surface sites is assumed. However, certain gas-phase species, such as SiH4, H2SiO, and N2O, are efficiently formed via surface chemistry and released into the gas phase via photodesorption by interstellar photons in the outer wind, forming a molecular shell. The abundance of this shell increases up to an order of magnitude when including porosity. Including a companion increases the abundance of SiH4 and H2SiO, but decreases that of N2O.
We find that a companion star combined with a porous outflow, with or without dust–gas chemistry, shows the largest effect. The impact on the gas-phase chemistry depends on the outflow density, porosity, and the assumed onset of dust formation, as well as the intensity of the companion's radiation. Depending on the configuration, certain parent and daughter species are efficiently destroyed, with other daughters showing an increased inner wind abundance or even parent-like behaviour. We have identified molecular tracers that allow us to discern the type of companion and porosity of the outflow for both O-rich and C-rich outflows. Solar-like companions show the largest effects and can be inferred using our tracer molecules. The effect of white dwarfs is smaller, but their presence can be inferred as well. Red dwarf companions can be inferred only in high porosity outflows. In this case, specific outflow structures are needed for chemistry to be used as a tool to distinguish between stellar and substellar companions.
Our results confirm that chemistry can be used to distinguish between a stellar or substellar companion shaping the outflow and constraining the underlying density distribution. Even though the new model has more input parameters, it is possible to constrain them based on observations, as long as a suite of molecules is targeted. This makes the model an important tool to help interpret and guide observations.
While the chemical model is the most complex to date, it does not cover the chemistry of the entire outflow. In order to achieve such a model, dust formation and growth need to be included. Additionally, to accurately model the chemistry in outflows with specific observed density distributions, such as spirals and disks, appropriate parameterisations or hydrodynamical modelling output are required. Nevertheless, this model is an important first step in the development of such three-dimensional, full outflow chemical models.
Footnotes |
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Fractional abundance profiles of all parents and their daughters along with all species that show a significant change in abundance when including a stellar companion, together with figures showing the number of monolayers of dust and ice for all assumed GSDs and the ice and refractory coverage at the end of the outflow for the GSDs different to the MRN distribution. See DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d3fd00039g |
‡ http://udfa.ajmarkwick.net/index.php?mode=downloads |
§ https://home.strw.leidenuniv.nl/%7Eewine/photo/ |
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