The Nearby Evolved Stars Survey II: Constructing a volume-limited sample and first results from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

Scicluna, P. (ASIAA, ESO), F. Kemper (ESO), I. MacDonald (Manchester Univ., The Open Univ.), and 89 others, including G.C. Sloan (STScI, UNC)

2022, MNRAS, 512, 1091

Full manuscript available locally (PDF) or from the arXiv (2110.12562).

The Nearby Evolved Stars Survey (NESS) is a volume-complete sample of ~850 Galactic evolved stars within 3 kpc at (sub-)mm wavelengths, observed in the CO J = (2-1) and (3-2) rotational lines, and the sub-mm continuum, using the James Clark Maxwell Telescope and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. NESS consists of five tiers, based on distances and dust-production rate (DPR). We define a new metric for estimating the distances to evolved stars and compare its results to Gaia EDR3. Replicating other studies, the most-evolved, highly enshrouded objects in the Galactic Plane dominate the dust returned by our sources, and we initially estimate a total DPR of 4.7 x 10^-5 M_sun yr^-1 from our sample. Our sub-mm fluxes are systematically higher and spectral indices are typically shallower than dust models typically predict. The 450/850 µm spectral indices are consistent with the blackbody Rayleigh-Jeans regime, suggesting a large fraction of evolved stars have unexpectedly large envelopes of cold dust.

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Last modified 15 February, 2022. © Gregory C. Sloan and others.