ALMA Observations of W Hya: Impact of missing baselines

The lack of short baselines, referred to as short-spacing problem (SSP), is a well-known limitation of the performance of radio interferometers, causing a reduction of the detected flux from large scale source structures. The very large number of antennas operated in the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) generates situations for which the impact of the SSP takes a complex form, not simply measurable by a single number, such as the maximal recoverable scale. In particular extended antenna configurations, complemented by a small group of closeby antennas at the centre of the array, may result in a double-humped baseline distribution with a significant gap between the two groups. In such cases one should adopt as effective maximal recoverable scale that associated with the extended array and use only the central array to recover missing flux, as one would do with single dish or ACA (Atacama Compact Array) observations. The impact of the missing baselines can be very important and may easily be underestimated, or even overlooked. The present study uses ALMA archival data of the $^{29}$SiO(8-7) line emission of AGB star W Hya as an illustration. A critical discussion of the reliability of the observations away from the star is presented together with comments of a broader scope. Properties of the circumstellar envelope of W Hya within $\sim$15 au from the star, many of which are not mentioned in the published literature, are briefly described and compared with R Dor, an AGB star having properties very similar to W Hya.