The 8 micron band of silicon monoxide in the expanding cloud around VY Canis Majoris

Observations of vibration-rotation transitions of silicon monoxide in VY CMa show that the lines originate in accelerating, expanding, and cool (about 600 K) layers of a circumstellar cloud at a distance of approximately 0.15 arcsec from the central star. The central stellar velocity, as estimated from observed SiO P Cygni line profiles, is somewhat redshifted from the midpoint of the maser emission features. Most of the silicon is probably in the form of dust grains. The isotopic ratios of silicon are nearly terrestrial.