1998A&AS..129..541O

A high resolution optical spectrum of the post-red supergiant candidate IRC+10420 is presented. The Utrecht Echelle Spectrograph observations, with a total integration time of more than 9 hours, provide a spectral coverage from 3850Å to 1 µm, and a spectral resolution of 9km/s. The spectrum is shown, and an identification list of lines in the spectrum is provided. From a preliminary analysis of the spectrum we find that the spectral type of IRC+10420 has changed from F8I⁺ in 1973 to mid- to early A type now, confirming the results of Oudmaijer et al. (1996MNRAS.280.1062O), who claimed a change in temperature based on photometric changes. It is shown that most of the emission lines in the spectrum of IRC+10420 are blue-shifted with respect to the systemic velocity traced by circumstellar rotational CO emission, while the (few) absorption lines - with the exception of some high excitation lines - are red-shifted by 25km/s, which may suggest infall of material onto the star. Finally, it is found that the interstellar extinction towards IRC+10420 as traced by the Diffuse Interstellar Bands is very large, with an inferred E(B-V) of 1.4±0.5 compared to a total E(B-V) of 2.4.