English

Stellar Evolution and Mass Loss on the Asymptotic Giant Branch

Astrophysics 2009-10-22 v1

Abstract

Mass loss dominates the stellar evolution on the Asymptotic Giant Branch. The phase of highest mass-loss occurs during the last 1--10\% of the AGB and includes the so-called Miras and OH/IR stars. In this review I will discuss the characteristics and evolution of especially Miras, and discuss how they are linked to the mass loss. There are indications that high mass-loss rates are only reached for relatively young stars with massive progenitors. The mass loss rates vary both on long and short time scales: the short-term variations are likely linked to luminosity variations associated with the thermal-pulse cycle. The influence of mass loss in the post-AGB phase is also discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9411023,
  title  = {Stellar Evolution and Mass Loss on the Asymptotic Giant Branch},
  author = {Albert A. Zijlstra},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9411023},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

latex, 10pages, 3 figures available on request from [email protected]