Dust distribution in circumstellar shells

Abstract

We present numerical simulations of the hydrodynamical interactions that produce circumstellar shells. These simulations include several scenarios, such as wind-wind interaction and wind-ISM collisions. In our calculations we have taken into account the presence of dust in the stellar wind. Our results show that, while small dust grains tend to be strongly coupled to the gas, large dust grains are only weakly coupled. As a result, the distribution of the large dust grains is not representative of the gas distribution. Combining these results with observations may give us a new way of validating hydrodynamical models of the circumstellar medium. © 2012 International Astronomical Union.