Synthesis of titanium monoxide in the circunstellar envelopes of Mira

• Grant number: 12/17811-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2012
• End date: October 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science - Computational Mathematics
• Principal Investigator: Carmen Maria Andreazza
• Grantee: Andre Freitas Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Mira are pulsating variable stars in advanced stages of evolution. Their atmospheres are sources of intense absorption bands attributed to molecular titanium monoxide (TiO). It has been suggested that the abundance of TiO reaches its maximum value near the minimum light. In this sense, the study of the processes of formation and destruction of TiO in circumstellar envelopes of Mira stars, not only allows us to understand the physical and chemical processes that occur in these environments, as it allows to verify the correlation between the abundance of TiO and its light curve. However, the main mechanisms of formation and destruction of TiO are poorly known and, consequently, the possible correlation between the abundance of this species and the light curve. In these sense, we intend to study the main processes of formation and destruction of TiO in molecular layers of Mira atmospheres and determine its temporal evolution, as well as to study the possible effects of such abundance in the light curve of these stars, through computer simulations.(AU)