Angular diameters of two miras and three semi-regular variables from near infrared lunar occultations at Mt Abu Observatory
Tapas Baug and T. Chandrasekhar

Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad
E-mail: tapasb@prl.res.in

Abstract. Uniform disk (UD) angular diameters of two Mira Variables and three semi-regular variables (SRVs), including a carbon star, derived from Lunar Occultation (LO) observations in the Near-Infrared (NIR) K-band at 2.2 microns are reported. LO observations were made at the 1.2 m telescope of Mt. Abu observatory using two different Infrared detector systems - (a) A single channel InSb photometer and (b) A 10 X 10 pixels subarray of NICMOS IR camera using a MCT detector array. The UD angular diameters derived from a detailed Modeling of the LO light curves are AW Aur (Mira): 4.4 ± 0.5 mas; BS Aur (Mira): 6.3 ± 0.5 mas; GP Tau (SRV): 4.9 ± 0.5 mas, RS Cap (SRV): 7.7 ± 1.0 mas and RT Cap (SRV, carbon): 8.2 ± 0.5 mas. While the angular diameter values for RS Cap and RT Cap are in good agreement with earlier reported values, for the two Miras and GP Tau these are the first reported determinations of the angular diameter. Results derived from the angular diameters like the mode of pulsation of the two Miras and the effective temperatures, and possible circumstellar material of these sources will be presented.