2009A&A...500..827M

Optical images and high-dispersion spectra have been obtained of the ejected material surrounding the pulsating AGB star Mira A. The two streams of knots on either side of the star, found in far-ultraviolet (FUV) GALEX images, have now been imaged clearly in the light of Hα. Spatially resolved profiles of the same line reveal that the bulk of these knots form a bipolar outflow with radial velocity extremes of ±150km/s with respect to the central star. The south stream is approaching and the north stream receding from the observer. A displacement away from Mira A between the position of one of the south-stream knots in the new Hα image and its position in the previous Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS I) red plate was noted. If interpreted as a consequence of expansion proper motions, the bipolar outflow is tilted at 69°±15° to the plane of the sky, has an outflow velocity of 160±10km/s and is ≃1000yr old.