Related papers: Duplicity: its part in the AGB's downfall
This paper describes observations of a new phenomenon in evolved mass-losing AGB stars: the presence of two winds with different expansion velocities. CO(2-1) and CO(3-2) line emission was observed for 45 AGB stars at high velocity…
Post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) binaries are surrounded by massive disks of gas and dust that are similar to protoplanetary disks around young stars. We assembled a catalog of all known Galactic post-AGB binaries with disks. We…
We describe our first attempt at modelling nucleosynthesis in massive AGB stars which have undergone core carbon burning, the super-AGB stars. We fit a synthetic model to detailed stellar evolution models in the mass range 9<=M/Msun<=11.5…
The commonly accepted mechanism governing the formation of the nascent wind in oxygen-rich AGB stars combines an initial boost above the photosphere, given by shock waves resulting from stellar pulsations and convective cell granulation,…
Mass loss on the Asymptotic Giant Branch provides the origin of planetary nebulae. This paper reviews several relevant aspects of AGB evolution: pulsation properties, mass loss formalisms and time variable mass loss, evidence for…
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…
We present nucleosynthesis predictions for massive (5-7 solar masses) asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of solar metallicity where we delay the onset of the superwind to pulsation periods of P =700-800 days. We found that delaying the…
The energy source has remained to be the great mystery in understanding of the gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) if the events are placed at cosmological distances as indicated by a number of recent observations. The currently popular models include…
Recent surveys confirm early results about a deficiency or even absence of CN-strong stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) of globular clusters (GCs), although with quite large cluster-to-cluster variations. In general, this is at odds…
AGB stars have long been held responsible for the important star-to-star variations in light elements observed in Galactic globular clusters. We analyse the main impacts of a first generation of rotating intermediate-mass stars on the…
The post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase is arguably one of the least understood phases of the evolution of low- and intermediate- mass stars. The recent post-AGB evolutionary sequences computed by Miller Bertolami (2016) are at least…
Understanding the nucleosynthesis and evolution of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars is of primary importance as they are the main producers of some of the key elements in the Universe. They are the predominant sites for the slow…
The origin and evolution of chemical elements in the Universe are governed not only by nucleosynthesis processes in stars, but also by mechanisms that alter observed photospheric compositions. Among these, chemical depletion (underabundance…
We propose that the large, radius of ~1000 AU, circumbinary rotating disks observed around some post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) binary stars are formed from slow AGB wind material that is pushed back to the center of the nebula by…
Observational evidence for strong magnetic fields throughout the envelopes of evolved stars is increasing. Many of the instruments coming on line in the near-future will be able to make further contributions to this field. Specifically,…
Barium stars are one of the important probes to understand the origin and evolution of slow neutron-capture process elements in the Galaxy. These are extrinsic stars, where the observed s-process element abundances are believed to have an…
Binarity and mass transfer appear to play a key role in the shaping and, possibly, formation of planetary nebulae (PNe), thereby explaining the large fraction of axisymmetric morphologies. I present the binary hypothesis for PNe and its…
I review some possible processes by which planets and brown dwarfs can influence the evolution of their parent evolved stars. As sun-like stars evolve on the red giant branch (RGB) and then on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), they will…
In this contribution we give a progress report on our systematic study of a large sample of post-AGB stars. The sample stars were selected on the basis of their infrared colours and the selection criteria were tuned to discover objects with…
Stars with masses between roughly 1 and 8~$M_\odot$ end their lives on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), when intense mass loss takes place. The outflows are generally accepted to be driven by radiation pressure acting on dust grains that…