A bipolar structure and shocks in V1309 Scorpii

V1309 Scorpii is a known example of a red nova, the result of the merging of two non-compact stars in a multiple system. V1309 Scorpii is the only example of such objects where the merging process, including the spiral-in phase of the progenitor binary, were photometrically observed. Therefore, V1309 Scorpii is a valuable testbed to examine how such objects evolve, and how the properties of the progenitor and the remnant are connected.

In this poster, we present the key results of a recently accepted paper studying the circumstellar environment surrounding the remnant star in V1309 Scorpii. Using ALMA band 7 data, we show that a two-component structure reminiscent of a bipolar outflow is seen in the kinematics of the ALMA spectrum, as well as the moment-1 maps of CO and SiO. We also detect the shock tracers HCO+ and ro-vibrational H2 in ALMA and optical spectra respectively, indicating interactions between the outflowing gas and the circumstellar medium. Furthermore, the lack of symmetry in the detection of the shock tracers in different directions along the lineof sight indicates an imhomogeneity in the kinematics and/or the chemistry of either the circumstellar environment, or the outflows. We conclude that V1309 Scorpii is a kineamtically and chemically complex object, with several questions left unanswered.