Nonuniform Dust Outflow Observed around Infrared Object NML Cygni

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Abstract
Measurements by the University of California Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer at 11.15 μm have yielded strong evidence for multiple dust shells and/or significant asymmetric dust emission around NML Cyg. New observations reported also include multiple 8-13 μm spectra taken from 1994-1995 and N-band (10.2 μm) photometry from 1980-1992. These and past measurements are analyzed and fitted to a model of the dust distribution around NML Cyg. No spherically symmetric single dust shell model is found consistent with both near- and mid-infrared observations. However, a circularly symmetric maximum entropy reconstruction of the 11 μm brightness distribution suggests a double-shell model for the dust distribution. Such a model, consisting of a geometrically thin shell of intermediate optical depth (τ11 μm ~ 1.9) plus an outer shell (τ11 μm ~ 0.33), is consistent not only with the 11 μm visibility data but also with near-infrared speckle measurements, the broadband spectrum, and the 9.7 μm silicate feature. The outer shell, or large-scale structure, is revealed only by long-baseline interferometry at 11 μm, being too cold (~400 K) to contribute in the near-infrared and having no unambiguous spectral signature in the mid-infrared. The optical constants of Ossenkopf, Henning, & Mathis proved superior to the Draine & Lee (1984) constants in fitting the detailed shape of the silicate feature and broadband spectrum for this object. Recent observations of H2O maser emission around NML Cyg by Richards, Yates, & Cohen (1996) are consistent with the location of the two dust shells and provide further evidence for the two-shell model.
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