Polarization is a powerful tool for understanding stellar atmospheres and circumstellar environments. Mira and semi-regular variable stars have been observed for decades and some are known to be polarimetrically variable, however, the semi-regular variable V Canes Venatici displays an unusually large, unexplained amount of polarization. We present ten years of optical polarization observations obtained with the HPOL instrument, supplemented by published observations spanning a total interval of about forty years for V CVn. We find that V CVn shows large polarization variations ranging from 1 - 6%. We also find that for the past forty years the position angle measured for V CVn has been virtually constant suggesting a long-term, stable, asymmetric structure about the star. We suggest that this asymmetry is caused by the presence of a stellar wind bow shock and tail, consistent with the star's large space velocity.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etsu-works-7460 |
Date | 25 August 2014 |
Creators | Neilson, Hilding, Ignace, Richard, Smith, Beverly, Henson, Gary, Adams, Alyssa |
Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
Detected Language | English |
Type | text |
Format | application/pdf |
Source | ETSU Faculty Works |
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