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Optically thin circumstellar medium in the beta Lyr A system

Publication at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
2021

Abstract

The complex binary system beta Lyr A has an extensive observational dataset: light curves (from far UV to far IR), interferometric squared visibility, closure phase, triple product measurements, spectral-energy distribution, high-resolution spectroscopy, differential visibility amplitude, and also a differential phase. In particular, we used spectra from the Ondejov 2m telescope from 2013 to 2015 to measure the emission in H alpha, HeI, SiII, NeI, or CII lines, and differential interferometry by CHARA/VEGA from the 2013 campaign to measure wavelength-dependent sizes across H alpha and HeI 6678.

This allowed us to constrain not only optically thick objects (primary, secondary, accretion disc), but also optically thin objects (disc atmosphere, jets, shell). We extended our modelling tool, Pyshellspec (based on Shellspec; a 1D local thermodynamical equilibrium radiative transfer code), to include all new observables, to compute differential visibilities/phases, to perform a Doppler tomography, and to determine a joint chi(2) metric.

After an optimisation of 38 free parameters, we derived a robust model of the beta Lyr A system. According to the model, the emission is formed in an extended atmosphere of the disc, two perpendicular jets expanding at similar to 700 km s(-1), and a symmetric shell with the radius similar to 70 R-circle dot.

The spectroscopy indicates a low abundance of carbon, 10(-2) of the solar value. We also quantified systematic differences between datasets, and we discuss here alternative models with higher resolutions, additional asymmetries, or He-rich abundances.