ALMA data cubes for IRC+10216

SiS and SiO emission have similar sizes of approximately 11", but SiS emission is slightly more compact. We have estimated fractional abundances relative to H_2_, which on average are equal to f(SiO)~10^-7^, f(SiS)~10^-6^, and f(CS)~10^-^6 up to the photo-dissociation region. The observations and analysis presented here show evidence that the circumstellar material displays clear deviations from an homogeneous spherical wind, with clumps and low density shells that may allow UV photons from the interstellar medium (ISM) to penetrate deep into the envelope, shifting the photo-dissociation radius inwards.

Our chemical model predicts photo-dissociation radii compatible with those derived from the observations, although it is unable to predict abundance variations from the starting radius of the calculations (~10R_{sun}_), which may reflect the simplicity of the model. We conclude that the spatial distribution of the gas proves the episodic and variable nature of the mass loss mechanism of IRC+10 216, on timescales of hundreds of years