Related papers: Dust in AGB stars: transparent or opaque?
Cool giant stars are highly dynamical objects, and complex micro-physical processes play an important role in their extended atmospheres and winds. The interpretation of observations, and in particular of high-resolution IR spectra,…
In the late stage of their evolution, low- to intermediate-mass stars pass through the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase, characterised by strong mass loss through dust driven winds. High angular resolution observations reveal that these…
Aims: We aim to understand the variation of the surface chemistry that occurs during the AGB phase by analysing results from observations of single post-AGB stars in the Magellanic Clouds. We also aim at reconstruct dust formation…
A review is presented of the most relevant results obtained in the last few years on this rare class of astronomical sources. Multi-wavelength analysis of an increasing number of post-AGB stars reveal that they constitute a more…
Context. The recent detection of warm H$_2$O vapor emission from the outflows of carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars challenges the current understanding of circumstellar chemistry. Two mechanisms have been invoked to explain…
We study the M-type asymptotic giant branch (AGB) population of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by characterizing the individual sources in terms of the main properties of the progenitors and of the dust present in the circumstellar…
The plethora of asymmetric planetary nebulae and the curiously high momenta of pre-planetary nebula outflows suggest that rotational energy is extracted from the engines. Magneto-rotational outflows driven by dynamos might be operating…
Observations of the outflows of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars continue to reveal their chemical and dynamical complexity. Spherical asymmetries, such as spirals and disks, are prevalent and thought to be caused by binary interaction…
The mass loss experienced on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) at the end of the lives of low- and intermediate-mass stars is widely accepted to rely on radiation pressure acting on dust grains formed in the extended AGB atmospheres. The…
The evolution of galaxies is driven by the birth and death of stars. AGB stars are at the end points of their evolution and therefore their luminosities directly reflect their birth mass; this enables us to reconstruct the star formation…
Large amounts of dust have recently been discovered in high-z galaxies and QSOs. The stellar winds produced by AGB stars are thought to be the main source of dust in galaxies, but they cannot produce that dust on a short enough timescale…
Carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars, CH stars and barium stars, among other classes of chemically peculiar stars, are thought to be products of the interaction of low- and intermediate-mass binaries which occurred when the most evolved star…
We study the AGB population of the galaxy M31, based on available HST and Spitzer data, to characterize the individual sources in terms of mass, metallicity and formation epoch of the progenitors. Particular attention is dedicated to the…
This paper reviews our current understanding of interstellar dust models, what constitutes a viable dust model, what observational constraints are essential for deriving such model, and the current viable dust models. Interstellar dust…
To discriminate between different dust formation processes is a key issue in order to understand its properties. We analysed six submillimeter galaxies at redshifts 4<z<5 and nine quasars at 5<z<6.4. We estimated their dust masses from…
There are in the literature several theories to explain the mass loss in stellar winds. In particular, for late-type stars, some authors have proposed a wind model driven by an outward-directed flux of damped Alfven waves. The winds of…
We investigate the observable characteristics of the extended atmospheres of AGB stars across a wide range of radio and (sub-)mm wavelengths using state-of-the-art 1D dynamical atmosphere and wind models over one pulsation period. We also…
We examine the effect of circumstellar dust extinction on the near-IR contribution of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in intermediate-age clusters throughout the disk of M100. For our sample of 17 AGB-dominated clusters we extract…
Many types of stars have strong magnetic fields that can dynamically influence the flow of circumstellar matter. In stars with accretion disks, the stellar magnetic field can truncate the inner disk and determine the paths that matter can…
[Abridged] In this paper we explore grain size effects on wind properties of carbon stars, using a generalized description of radiative cross sections valid for particles of arbitrary sizes. The purpose of the study is to investigate under…