Astron. Astrophys. 326, 318-328 (1997)

5. Conclusions

1. Molecular line observations of the carbon star V Hya show that there are three wind components in its circumstellar shell, flowing at speeds of 15, 45 and 200 .
2. V Hya is the first star still on the AGB found to be producing a very fast molecular wind.
3. Most of the mass of the circumstellar envelope is in the 45 component, but most of the energy is in the 200 wind.
4. The envelope is slightly resolved. The horns on the CO line profiles at are the result of resolution and are spatially separated. The simplest geometry which explains the observed molecular line profiles is a flattened disk expanding at 15 , inclined to the line of sight, from whose poles the faster molecular winds are flowing.

© European Southern Observatory (ESO) 1997

Online publication: April 20, 1998
helpdesk.link@springer.de