2004 AAVSO Symposium

Mira Companions & Planets

You are cordially invited to attend the 2004 AAVSO Symposium devoted to discussions about companions and planets of Mira stars.

When: 10am - 4pm Monday, April 26th 2004. (free)

Where: Phillips Auditorium, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge MA. (map & directions)

What:

• 9am - 10am: Registration, coffee & Krispy Kreme^tm donuts, setup posters
• 10am - 10:40am: Dr. Wesley Traub, "The Mira Imaging Project: Near-IR, VLBA, and Thermal-IR"
• 10:40 - 10:50: Poster presenters will give brief descriptions of their posters.
• 11am - 11:50am: Dr. Margarita Karovska, "Miras and Their Companions"
• 12am - 2pm: Lunch break (Harvard Square and many eateries are within easy walking distance)
• 2pm - 2:50pm: Dr. Lee Anne Willson, "Planets in Mira winds - models, some detection limits, and the fates of the planets in our solar system."
• 3pm - 3:20pm: Dr. Matthew Templeton, "Mira Data in the AAVSO International Database"
• 3:20 - 4:00pm: Poster session, Q&A, networking

All pre-registered attendees (free) will be provided with a CDROM of data on over 50 Mira stars from the AAVSO International Database and also DOS, Linux and Windows time series analysis software developed by the AAVSO.

Why: Mira stars are pulsating variable stars near the end of stellar evolution. Studies of Miras provide a glimpse into a critical period of stellar evolution when a main sequence star is preparing to shed its planetary nebula and evolve into a white dwarf. Who: Invited speakers are: Dr. Wesley Traub, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Dr. Margarita Karovksa, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Dr. Lee Anne Willson, Iowa State University Dr. Matthew Templeton, AAVSO Posters: Attendees are invited to present posters during a small poster session in the afternoon. Preferably posters should be no larger than 35 inches wide and 36 inches tall but room is available for larger sizes. Abstracts of talks and posters will be published in the JAAVSO with a copy mailed to the authors. Attendee list and abstracts posted here as they are submitted.

Mira via Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: M. Karovska, Center for Astrophysics & NASA

How:

Registration is free and is not required. However, to ensure a seat and get a CDROM please register ahead of time. If the seats fill up registered attendees will be given priority.

If you wish to present a poster you must register ahead of time so we can prepare the appropriate space.

A confirmation will be e-mailed to you immediately and a reminder will be e-mailed about a week before the Symposium.

Thank you for your interest.

Download our flyer! (1 page, 150dpi)

Invited Talks

The Mira Imaging Project: Near-IR, VLBA, and Thermal-IR
Dr. Wes Traub, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Interferometer observations in three wavelength regions can tell us about outflow from Mira stars as ejected material moves farther and farther from the star, and changes its state. In the near-infrared we see the photosphere, in the radio we see SiO masers in a surrounding shell, and in the thermal-infrared we see dust condensations in an even-larger shell. Three interferometers, IOTA, VLBA, and ISI can now give us imaging information on Miras, using closure-phase methods. The Mira Imaging Project is a cooperative observational program which promises to combine the results from these interferometers to give us a new picture of how mass is ejected from Mira stars.

"Miras and Their Companions"
Dr. Margarita Karovska, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

I will present recent results from multi-wavelength studies of Miras and their companions. These will include the prototype of the Mira-type variables - Mira A (o Cet, Mira) - and its accreting companion Mira B (VZ Cet). The Mira AB interacting binary provides an ideal laboratory for studying mass loss and accretion processes in systems containing an AGB star and a compact accretor, because is one of the few wind accreting systems in which the components have been resolved and can be studied individually. I will highlight here results from our long term study of accretion processes in this system including recent surprises. I will also discuss future prospects of resolving and studying Mira-type stars and there companions using ultra-high resolution at UV wavelengths.

Planets in the winds of dying stars: Detection by photometry, and the fates of the planets in our solar system.
Dr. Lee Anne Willson

From models for mass loss from pulsating Mira variables we know quite a bit about the conditions that planets will encounter when their stars reach the end of the AGB and the final mass loss epoch. I will present some calculations and some speculations about the fates of planets like those in our solar system and discuss the conditions needed to detect the presence of planets at that stage of stellar evolution by photometric means.