Long-term monitoring of the long-period variable Y Cassiopeiae in the 1.35-cm water-vapor line |
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| Authors: | G M Rudnitskii M I Pashchenko |
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| Institution: | (1) Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Universitetskii pr. 13, Moscow, 119992, Russia |
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| Abstract: | Observations of the circumstellar maser emission from the long-period variable star Y Cas in the 1.35-cm water-vapor line are presented. The observations were performed with the RT-22 radio telescope at the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory (Astrospace Center, Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences) in the period 1982–2005. The variations in the integrated flux Fint in the H2O line correlate with the visual light curve of the star. The phase delay Δ? between the Fint variations and the light curve is 0.2–0.4P (P is the period of the star). The H2O maser Y Cas belongs to transient sources: peaks of high maser activity alternate with intervals of a low emission level when the H2O-line flux does not exceed (0.1–0.5) × 10?20 W m?2. A “superperiod” of ～5.7 yr was found in the occurrence of activity peaks. A particularly strong maximum of maser radio emission took place at the end of 1997, when the flux Fint reached 15.6 × 10?20 W m?2. A model for the H2O maser variability in Y Cas is discussed. The variability is caused by a periodic action of shock waves driven by stellar pulsations. The H2O maser flares may be associated with short-lived episodes of enhanced mass loss by the star or with the propagation of a particularly strong shock wave when a planet orbiting the star passes through its periastron. |
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| Keywords: | late-type stars long-period variable stars circumstellar envelopes maser radio sources |
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