The radio emission from Sakurai's Object (beyond 1 mm)

Abstract

Observations of V4334 Sgr have been made with the JCMT, MERLIN, ATCAand the VLA. Searches with JCMT for CO in and around the PNassociated with V4334 Sgr has provided upper limits for the peakemission of 20 mK and the line-flux of 0.17 K-km s^-1. Thisgives an upper limit on the CO mass of ∼ 3 × 10^-7D² M_⊙ at D kpc. VLA observations havedetected 2.7 ± 0.1 mJy of emission from the PN, which appears to beclumpy and extends to a radius of ∼ 17 arcsec. This indicates anoptically thick nebula, and suggests a range of distances of 1.83 to4.96 kpc for a reasonable range of masses for optically thick PN.Comparison with estimated total Hβ emission gives E(B-V) =0.8 ±0.1. MERLIN observations do not detect the wind indicated tobe present in IR observations prior to dust obscuration. TheAustralia Telescope Compact Array did not detect OH maser emissionfrom either the main- or satellite-lines. Future VLA observationswill increase integration times and uv-coverage to significantlyimprove the radio imaging. MERLIN target-of-opportunity time isretained in order to attempt to image any fast wind as it develops.An independent estimate of the PN mass would allow the use of theradio observations to determine the distance; conversely anindependent distance measurement would lead to a PN mass estimate.The author urges the acquisition of an accurate measurement of thetotal Hβ emission from the PN.