Related papers: Asymptotic Giant Branch models at very low metalli…
Early-type galaxies exhibit thermal and molecular resonance emission from dust that is shed and heated through stellar mass loss as a subset of the population moves through the AGB phase of evolution. Because this emission can give direct…
There is now strong evidence that some stars have been born with He mass fractions as high as $Y \approx 0.40$ (e.g., in $\omega$ Centauri). However, the advanced evolution, chemical yields, and final fates of He-rich stars are largely…
We present a complete study of the morphology of post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. Post-AGB is a very short evolutionary phase between the end of the AGB and the beginning of the Planetary Nebula (PN) stage (between 100 and 10,000…
(abridged) We model the nucleosynthesis during the thermal pulse phase of a rotating, solar metallicity AGB star of 3M_sun. Rotationally induced mixing during the thermal pulses produces a layer (~2E-5M_sun) on top of the CO-core where…
The recently improved information on the stellar (n,gamma) cross sections of neutron-magic nuclei at N = 82, and in particular of 142Nd, turned out to represent a sensitive test for models of s-process nucleosynthesis. While these data were…
High-resolution spectroscopic observations of a hundred metal-poor Carbon and s-rich stars (CEMP-s) collected from the literature are compared with the theoretical nucleosynthesis models of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) presented in Paper I…
We establish new constraints on the intermediate-mass range of the initial-final mass relation by studying white dwarfs in four young star clusters, and apply the results to study the evolution of stars on the thermally pulsing asymptotic…
Low mass Asymptotic Giant Branch stars are among the most important polluters of the interstellar medium. In their interiors, the main component (A>90) of the slow neutron capture process (the s-process) is synthesized, the most important…
We present a sample of twenty-one ROSAT bright active galactic nuclei (AGN), representing a range of spectral classes, and selected for follow-up snap-shot observations with XMM-Newton. The typical exposure was between 5-10 ks. The objects…
We present new rates for the 22Ne(alpha, n)25Mg and 22Ne(alpha,gamma)26Mg reactions, with uncertainties that have been considerably reduced compared to previous estimates, and we study how these new rates affect the production of the heavy…
Presolar SiC grains formed around Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars during their carbon-rich phase and contain heavy elements in trace amounts showing the signature of the slow neutron capture process (s process). Thanks to recent…
We have computed detailed evolution and nucleosynthesis models for super and massive AGB stars over the mass range 6.5-9.0 Msun in divisions of 0.5 Msun with metallicities Z=0.02, 0.008 and 0.004. These calculations, in which we find third…
Context: We present the physical and chemical properties of intermediate-mass stars models of low metallicity, evolved along the thermal pulse phase. Aims: The target of this work is to extend to low metallicities, Z=1,2 and 6 x 10^{-4},…
We present a summary of the main sites for nucleosynthesis in intermediate mass Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. We then discuss some detailed evolutionary models and how these have been used to create a synthetic evolution code which…
The production of the elements heavier than iron via slow neutron captures (the s process) is a main feature of the contribution of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of low mass (< 5 Msun) to the chemistry of the cosmos. However, our…
Analytic formulae are presented to construct detailed secular lightcurves of both early asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and thermally pulsing AGB stars. They are based on an extensive grid of evolutionary calculations, performed with an…
The production of the neutron-capture isotopes beyond iron that we observe today in the solar system is the result of the combined contribution of the r-process, the s- process and possibly the i-process. Low-mass AGB (2 < M/Msun < 3) and…
Type I planetary nebulae (PNe) have high He/H and N/O ratios and are thought to be descendants of stars with initial masses of ~3-8Msun. These characteristics indicate that the progenitor stars experienced proton-capture nucleosynthesis at…
The studies focused on the Thermally-Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch phase experienced by low- and intermediate-mass stars are extremely important in many astrophysical contexts. In particular, a detailed computation of their chemical…
Within the framework of the current models for the slow neutron capture (s) process in Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars we explore the uncertainties introduced by the assumptions made on stellar modeling. On the basis of star models…