High Angular
Resolution Observations of Mira
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Margarita Karovska
Harvard-Smithsopnian Center
for Astrophysics
60 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Presented at the AAVSO
Session on Mira Stars (part of the 85th Annual Meeting), November 1, 1996
Abstract
The results of high angular
resolution observations of Mira, the prototype star of the class of Mira-type
variables, are reviewed, including the detection of substanial asymmetries in
its atmosphere. Because of these asymmetries and the effect of the extended
atmosphere, it is difficult to determine a photospheric diameter, a crucial
parameter for establishing the effective temperature scale and the mode of
pulsation. This parameter could be derived using accurate measurements of the
diameter and the brightness distribution across the stellar disk as a function
of wavelength and pulsation phase, in conjunction with detailed model
atmosphere calculations.
