PO and PN in the wind of the oxygen-rich AGB star IK Tauri

Abstract

Context. Phosphorus-bearing compounds have only been studied in the circumstellar environments of the asymptotic giant branch star IRC +10 216 and the protoplanetary nebula CRL 2688, both carbon-rich objects, and the oxygen-rich red supergiant VY CMa. The current chemical models cannot reproduce the high abundances of PO and PN derived from observations of VY CMa. No observations have been reported of phosphorus in the circumstellar envelopes of oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch stars.