Dust Envelope around the Carbon Star RW LMi

Results of infrared photometric observations of RW LMi in the $$JHKLM$$ bands are presented. The observations were carried out from 1994 to 2024. Based on the observations of 17 pulsation cycles of the star, new brightness ephemerides were established: JDₘₐₓ=2459677d.0+610d.9\,E . A sinusoidal trend of the average brightness level was found. Its period is about 7300 days and its amplitude is approximately 1ᵐ in the $$JHK$$ bands. From the energy distribution in the spectrum in the wavelength range of 0.5–100 μ m, an estimate of the bolometric flux at the maximum brightness was obtained: Fbol=2.6× 10⁻⁶ erg s ⁻¹ cm ⁻² . This corresponds to the luminosity Lₘₐₓ≈ 8500\;L_ . Modeling the RW LMi circumstellar envelope radiation was performed with the RAMDC-3D program. The simulation was carried out in the approximation of a spherically symmetric envelope shape with a constant mass-loss rate. The main envelope parameters are: the optical depth τV≈ 12.7 , the inner radius Rᵢₙ≈ 8 AU, the outer radius Rₒᵤₜ≈ 17\,000 AU, and the mass-loss rate Ṁ=6× 10⁻⁶M_ yr ⁻¹ .