A 200km/s molecular wind in the peculiar carbon star V Hya.

Abstract

A molecular wind with an outflow speed in excess of 200km/s has been found in the AGB carbon star V Hya. Observations of several molecular lines show that the circumstellar envelope is expanding at 15km/s and is flattened and inclined to the line of sight. The fast wind appears to be expanding from the poles of the envelope, with the expansion speed increasing with distance from the star. V Hya may be in the very earliest stage of evolution beyond the AGB.