AAS 197, January 2001
Session 44. Observations and Analysis of Stellar Atmospheres
Display, Tuesday, January 9, 2001, 9:30am-7:00pm, Exhibit Hall

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[44.20] Infrared Spectroscopy of the Red Rectangle

K.H. Hinkle, A. Hedden (NOAO), P. Bernath (Waterloo)

We report on high spectral resolution 2.3 and 5 \mum observations of HD 44179, the central star of the red rectangle. The red rectangle is an exotic bipolar object with a disk surrounding a post-AGB, spectroscopic binary. The F I star HD 44179 is the observed member of the binary. The 2.3 \mum first overtone CO lines are in absorption with two excitation temperatures, ~100 K for the low J lines and ~800 K for the high J lines. The heliocentric radial velocity of all the 2.3 \mum 12CO lines is +19 km~s-1, the radial velocity previously reported for the circumstellar nebula. 13CO lines are detected. The 4.6 \mum CO lines are in emission, confirming lower resolution ISO observations of the 4.6 \mum CO in emission in HD 44179.

NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.~under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

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