Related papers: The wind of the M-type AGB star RT Virginis probed…

The recent progress in high-spatial-resolution techniques, spanning wavelengths from the visual to the radio regime, is leading to new valuable insights into the complex dynamical atmospheres of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars and their…

Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are significant contributors to the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies. It is therefore essential to constrain the AGB contribution to the dust budget in galaxies. Recent…

Aims. We present a diagnostic tool to determine the abundance of the crystalline silicate forsterite in AGB stars surrounded by a thick shell of silicate dust. Using six infrared spectra of high mass-loss oxygen rich AGB stars we obtain the…

We present self-consistent dynamical models for dust-driven winds of carbon-rich AGB stars. The models are based on the coupled system of frequency-dependent radiation hydrodynamics and time-dependent dust formation. We investigate in…

CONTEXT: Simple geometrical ring models account well for near-infrared interferometric observations of dusty disks surrounding pre-main sequence stars of intermediate mass. Such models demonstrate that the dust distribution in these disks…

Stellar winds of cool carbon stars enrich the interstellar medium with significant amounts of carbon and dust. We present a study of the influence of two-fluid flow on winds where we add descriptions of frequency-dependent radiative…

To study the nature of Bulge AGB stars and in particular their circumstellar dust, we have analysed mid-infrared spectra obtained with the ISOCAM CVF spectrometer in three Bulge fields. The ISOCAM 5-16.5 micron CVF spectra were obtained as…

We report interferometric observations of the semi-regular variable star RS CrB, a red giant with strong silicate emission features. The data were among the first long baseline mid-infrared stellar fringes obtained between the Keck…

We compute the mass and composition of dust produced by stars with masses in the range 1Msun<M<8 Msun and with a metallicity of Z=0.001 during their AGB and Super AGB phases. Stellar evolution is followed from the pre-main sequence phase…

Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars are major contributors of cosmic dust to the universe. Typically, dust around AGB stars is investigated via radiative transfer (RT) modeling, or via simple deconstruction of observed spectra. However,…

Low- and intermediate-mass stars at the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) are known to be prevalent dust providers to galaxies. However, the mechanisms responsible for the formation and acceleration of dust in the cool extended atmospheres of…

We measure the integrated contributions of dusty AGB stars and other luminous red mid-IR sources to the mid-IR luminosities of 6 galaxies (M81, NGC 2403, NGC 300, M33 and the Magellanic Clouds). We find the dusty AGB stars whose mid-IR…

During their late pulsating phase, AGB stars expel most of their mass in the form of massive dusty envelopes, an event that largely controls the composition of interstellar matter. The envelopes, however, are distant and opaque to visible…

We observed mid-infrared (7.5-22 mum) spectra of AGB stars in the globular cluster 47 Tuc with the Spitzer telescope and find significant dust features of various types. Comparison of the characteristics of the dust spectra with the…

Our purpose is to study the effect of binary companions located within the first 10 stellar radii from the primary AGB star. In this work, we target the mass-losing carbon star V Hydrae (V Hya), looking for signatures of its companion in…

Context. VX Sgr is a cool, evolved, and luminous red star whose stellar parameters are difficult to determine, which affects its classification. Aims. We aim to spatially resolve the photospheric extent as well as the circumstellar…

R Coronae Borealis variable stars are suspected to sporadically eject optically thick dust clouds causing, when one of them lies on the line-of-sight, a huge brightness decline in visible light. Mid-infrared interferometric observations of…

Stars with initial masses between $\sim0.8$ and 8~$M_\odot$ present copious mass loss during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) at the end of their lives. The accepted mass-loss mechanism requires radiation pressure acting on dust grains…

Many properties of circumbinary discs around evolved post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) binary systems are similar to those of protoplanetary discs around young stars. The deficits of near-infrared (near-IR) flux in the spectral energy…

We obtained 13 epochs of mid-infrared interferometry with the MIDI instrument at the VLTI between April 2004 and July 2007, covering pulsation phases 0.45-0.85 within four cycles. The data are modeled with a radiative transfer model of the…