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SYLA: Symposium Laboratory Astrophysics

SYLA 1: Laboratory Astrophysics

SYLA 1.4: Invited Talk

Monday, March 14, 2022, 15:30–16:00, Audimax

Observing small molecules in stellar giants - High spectral resolution infrared studies in the laboratory, on a mountain, and high up in the air — •Guido W. Fuchs — 1Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Kassel (Germany)

Close to the end of their lifetime giant stars lose much of their mass in form of stellar winds and outflows. Opposed to carbon-rich (C-type) stars, the processes of molecule and dust formation in oxygen-rich (M-type) or intermediate-type (S-type) stars is not well understood. Small molecules made of refractory material, like metal, carbon, or silicon, seem to play an important role for the chemistry in these environments. The molecular inventory of circumstellar environments is mostly investigated via radio observations. However, infrared (IR) observations can also be performed as these stellar objects shine brightly in the IR range. In this work, the focus is set on IR observations of prototypical M-type and S-type stars as well as accompanying laboratory investigations on the spectra of small metall bearing molecules. The astrophysical observations were done using high resolution spectrographs like TEXES at the IRTF on Mauna Kea (Hawaii) or EXES onboard the SOFIA airplane. In the laboratory, molecules like TiO, VO, Al2O and other species have been investigated to determine their IR spectra. In this talk, the combined laboratory- and observational approach to identify and analyze small molecules made of refractory materials in circumstellar environments is presented.