Reduction of the maximum mass-loss rate of OH/IR stars due to unnoticed binary interaction
2019
In 1981, the idea of a superwind that ends the life of cool
giant starswas proposed. Extreme
OH/IR-starsdevelop superwinds with the highest mass-loss rates known so far, up to a few 10^(-4) Msun/yr, informing our understanding of the maximum mass-loss rate achieved during the
Asymptotic Giant Branch(AGB) phase. A condundrum arises whereby the
observationallydetermined duration of the superwind phase is too short for these stars to become
white dwarfs. Here, we report on the detection of spiral structures around two cornerstone extreme
OH/IR-stars, OH26.5+0.6 and OH30.1-0.7, identifying them as wide binary systems. Hydrodynamical simulations show that the companion's gravitational attraction creates an equatorial density enhancement mimicking a short extreme superwind phase, thereby solving the decades-old conundrum. This discovery restricts the maximum mass-loss rate of AGB stars around the single-scattering
radiation-pressurelimit of a few 10^(-5) Msun/yr. This brings about crucial implications for nucleosynthetic yields, planet survival, and the wind-driving mechanism.
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