MESS (Mass-loss of Evolved StarS) is a Guaranteed Time Key Program that uses the PACS and SPIRE instruments on board the Herschel Space Observatory to observe a representative sample of evolved stars, that include asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and post-AGB stars, planetary nebulae and red supergiants, as well as luminous blue variables, Wolf-Rayet stars and supernova remnants. In total, of order 150 objects are observed in imaging and about 50 objects in spectroscopy. This paper describes the target selection and target list, and the observing strategy. Key science projects are described, and illustrated using results obtained during Herschel's science demonstration phase. Aperture photometry is given for the 70 AGB and post-AGB stars observed up to October 17, 2010, which constitutes the largest single uniform database of far-IR and sub-mm fluxes for late-type stars.
@article{arxiv.1012.2701,
title = {MESS (Mass-loss of Evolved StarS), a Herschel Key Program},
author = {M. A. T. Groenewegen and C. Waelkens and M. J. Barlow and F. Kerschbaum and P. Garcia-Lario and J. Cernicharo and J. A. D. L. Blommaert and J. Bouwman and M. Cohen and N. Cox and L. Decin and K. Exter and W. K. Gear and H. L. Gomez and P. C. Hargrave and Th. Henning and D. Hutsemékers and R. J. Ivison and A. Jorissen and O. Krause and D. Ladjal and S. J. Leeks and T. L. Lim and M. Matsuura and Y. Nazé and G. Olofsson and R. Ottensamer and E. Polehampton and T. Posch and G. Rauw and P. Royer and B. Sibthorpe and B. M. Swinyard and T. Ueta and C. Vamvatira-Nakou and B. Vandenbussche and G. C. Van de Steene and S. Van Eck and P. A. M. van Hoof and H. Van Winckel and E. Verdugo and R. Wesson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1012.2701},
year = {2020}
}