A catalogue of high angular resolution and contrast polarimetric maps of 45 nearby AGB stars with SPHERE/ZIMPOL

Abstract

We present the largest catalogue of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, 45 targets in total, observed in polarized light at high angular resolution (~ 20 milliarcsec). The main goal of the study is to detect and characterize dust shells in the close environment of nearby AGB stars. This work also aims to systematically classify the AGB star circumstellar morphologies obtained with the SPHERE instrument installed at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), thanks to its Zurich Imaging Polarimeter (ZIMPOL). We extracted and analyzed polarized intensity maps for 45 AGB stars, constructed from polarimetric observation data obtained with the SPHERE/ZIMPOL instrument. An ellipse fitting method was applied to characterize the circumstellar envelopes. Stellar parameters (luminosity, effective temperature, surface gravity, extinction, metallicity) were compiled and recalculated when necessary from spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting using the Python SED fitting tool (PySSED) software. These data were then used to train a random forest machine learning model to determine the most discriminating variables for a resolved envelope around a given star. We constructed polarization maps for all stars in the sample, revealing a wide diversity of circumstellar morphologies. We detected 16 dusty circumstellar envelopes, including three never observed before. They display a wide range of morphologies, all of them showing a clear departure from spherical symmetry, indicating interaction with a companion or asymmetric mass ejections. The random forest model identified optimal thresholds for several physical parameters, thus providing robust criteria to anticipate SPHERE's ability to resolve dust envelopes around AGB stars. These results facilitate the selection of targets for future observations and contribute to a better understanding of the evolution mechanisms of circumstellar envelopes.