Mira B Rejuvenated
Brian E. Wood, Margarita Karovska
Abstract
Recent ultraviolet spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellites demonstrate that UV line and continuum fluxes observed from Mira B are increasing back towards the levels that the International Ultraviolet Explorer observed in 1979-1980 and 1990-1995, after having been found in a very low state by HST and FUSE in 1999-2001. The UV emission is associated with accretion of material onto Mira B from Mira A's massive wind, so the variability is presumably due to variations in accretion rate. From wind absorption features, we estimate a Mira B mass loss rate of 2.5e-12 Msun/yr, indicating that Mira B's wind has increased in strength along with the accretion rate. The UV variability may be associated with a previously reported 14-year periodicity in Mira B's optical emission.
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