ALMA Data Suggest the Presence of Spiral Structure in the Inner Wind of CW Leo

Evolved low-mass stars lose a significant fraction of their mass through stellar winds. While the overall morphology of the stellar wind structure during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase is thought to be roughly spherically symmetric, the morphology changes dramatically during the post-AGB and planetary nebula phase, during which bipolar and multi-polar structures are often observed. We have observed the close-by carbon-rich AGB star CW Leo using ALMA (Cycle 0) in band 9 around 650 GHz. The channel maps and position-velocity diagram of the 13CO J=6–5 line show a complex structure. Using detailed 3D radiative transfer models, we show that the curved structure in the position velocity map of the 13CO J=6–5 line can be explained by a spiral structure in the inner wind of CW Leo, probably induced by a binary companion. From modelling the ALMA data, we deduce that the potential orbital axis for the binary system lies at a position angle of 10 to 20 degrees to the north-east and that the spiral structure is seen almost edge-on. We infer an orbital period of 55 yr and a binary separation of 25 au (or 8.2 stellar radii). We tentatively estimate that the companion is an unevolved low-mass main sequence star.