THE EXTENDED 1.3 MM CONTINUUM EMISSION AROUND CW-LEO

We hive obtained a 150 x 150 '' map of the 1.3 mm emission around the carbon star CW Lee. Emission is detected at the 3 sigma level out to a distance of 50 '' from the central star. From model calculations we f ind that the dust density distribution is described by an approximate r(-2) law superposed on which are possible density enhancements at abo ut 5 and 20 '' distance from the star. This could imply phases of enha nced mass loss lasting up to several hundred years duration over the l ast few 1000 years. The major uncertainty in a quantitative analysis i s in the contribution of molecular lines. The density enhancement at 5 '' is consistent with a recent phase of increased mass loss as inferr ed from CO data.