Related papers: Duplicity: its part in the AGB's downfall

Binary stars can interact via mass transfer when one member (the primary) ascends onto a giant branch. The amount of gas ejected by the binary and the amount of gas accreted by the secondary over the lifetime of the primary influence the…

Observations of increasingly higher spatial resolution reveal the existence of asymmetries in the circumstellar envelopes of a small fraction of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Although there is no general consensus for their origin, a…

I discuss the relationship between mass loss and nucleosynthesis on the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB). Because of thermal pulses and possibly other mixing processes, products of nucleosynthesis can be brought to the surface of AGB stars,…

We investigate mass transfer and the formation of disc in binary systems using a combination of numerical simulations and theory. We consider six models distinguished by binary separation, secondary mass and outflow mechanisms. Each system…

Binary interactions dominate the evolution of massive stars, but their role is less clear for low- and intermediate-mass stars. The evolution of a spherical wind from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star into a nonspherical planetary…

A rich zoo of peculiar objects forms when Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, undergo interactions in a binary system. For example, Barium (Ba) stars are main-sequence and red-giant stars that accreted mass from the outflows of a former…

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 examine the flow from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars when along a small solid angle the optical depth due to dust is very large. We consider two types of flows. In the first, small cool spots are formed on the surface of slowly…

Many binary stellar systems in which the primary star is beyond the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolutionary phase show significant orbital eccentricities whereas current binary interaction models predict their orbits to be circularised.…

Intermediate mass stars (1-8 solar masses) evolve along the Asymptotic Giant Branch after completion of hydrogen and helium core burning. At the tip they lose for several ten to hundred thousand years copious amounts of mass and exhibit…

In low-mass binary systems, mass transfer is likely to occur via a slow and dense stellar wind when one of the stars is in the AGB phase. Observations show that many binaries that have undergone AGB mass transfer have orbital periods of…

We demonstrate that a massive asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star is a good candidate as the main source of short-lived radionuclides in the early solar system. Recent identification of massive (4-8 solar masses) AGB stars in the Galaxy,…

Abundance anomalies observed in globular cluster stars indicate pollution with material processed by hydrogen burning. Two main sources have been suggested: asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and massive stars rotating near the break-up…

Binary post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) stars are thought to be the products of a strong but poorly-understood interaction during the AGB phase. The aim of this contribution is to update the orbital elements of a sample of galactic…

Barium stars are extrinsic Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. They present the s-enhancement characteristic for AGB and post-AGB stars, but are in an earlier evolutionary stage (main sequence dwarfs, subgiants, red giants). They are…

The abundances of the slow neutron-capture (s-) process elements observed in barium stars can be explained by considering mass transfer in a binary system from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star onto a smaller mass and less evolved…

AGB stars are responsible for producing a variety of elements, including carbon, nitrogen, and the heavy elements produced in the slow neutron-capture process ($s$-elements). There are many uncertainties involved in modelling the evolution…

This review discusses some of the observational constraints on what we know about the mass loss experienced by stars in the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase of evolution. Mass loss affects the maximum mass attained by the core of an AGB…

Post-RGB and post-AGB binaries consist of a primary star that has recently evolved off either the RGB or AGB after losing most of its envelope, and a main-sequence companion. They are distinguished by luminosities below and above the RGB…

Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are known to lose a significant amount of mass by a stellar wind, which controls the remainder of their stellar lifetime. High angular-resolution observations show that the winds of these cool stars…