Related papers: The AGB bump: a calibrator for the core mixing
It has been known for a long time that some red giants in globular clusters exhibit large star-to-star variations in the abundances of light elements that are not exhibited by field giants. This fact can be taken as evidence that the extra…
We investigate the main physical properties of low-metallicity Asymptotic Giant Branch stars, with the aim of quantifying the uncertainties that presently affect the predicted chemical yields of these stars, associated to mass loss and…
The increase in luminosity as a star evolves on the red-giant branch is interrupted briefly when the hydrogen-burning shell reaches the vicinity of the composition discontinuity left behind from the first convective dredge-up. 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…
Thermally-Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) stars are relatively short lived (less than a few Myr), yet their cool effective temperatures, high luminosities, efficient mass-loss and dust production can dramatically effect the…
The structure and evolution of central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe) is reviewed. CSPNe represent the rapid transitional stage between the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) and the white-dwarf domain. It is shown that the whole evolution…
Recent improvements in globular cluster colour-magnitude diagrams, coupled with an increase in large-sample spectroscopic abundance studies of cluster giants, finally allow some attempts at a statistically meaningful comparison of the…
We review the observed properties of extremely hot hydrogen-deficient post-AGB stars of spectral type [WC] and PG1159. Their H-deficiency is probably caused by a (very) late helium-shell flash or a AGB final thermal pulse, laying bare…
(abbreviated) Measuring the surface abundances of AGB stars is an important tool for studying the effects of nucleosynthesis and mixing in the interior of low- to intermediate mass stars during their final evolutionary phases. The…
The winds observed around asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are generally attributed to radiation pressure on dust, which is formed in the extended dynamical atmospheres of these pulsating, strongly convective stars. Current…
We calculated models of massive AGB stars with a self-consistent coupling of time-dependent mixing and nuclear burning for 30 isotopes and 74 reactions. Overshoot with an exponentially declining velocity field was considered and applied…
We present asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models of solar metallicity, to allow the interpretation of observations of Galactic AGB stars, whose distances should be soon available after the first release of the Gaia catalogue. We find an…
Current implementations of the stellar atmosphere typically derive boundary conditions for the interior model from either grey plane-parallel atmospheres or scaled solar atmospheres, neither of which can be considered to have appropriate…
Encoded in the time- and wavelength dependent properties of pulsating AGB stars are the underlying fundamental parameters of mass, composition and evolutionary state. However, the standard technique of placing stars on a HR diagram, even…
We used a new generation of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stellar models that include dust formation in the stellar winds to find the links between evolutionary models and the observed properties of a homogeneous sample of Large Magellanic…
The He-shell flash convection in AGB stars is the site for the high-temperature component of the s-process in low- and intermediate mass giants, driven by the Ne22 neutron source. [...] The upper convection boundary plays a critical role…
Due to their brightness in infrared, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are in important evolutionary stage to be understood at this wavelength. In particular, in next decades, when the infrared optimised telescopes, such as the JWST and…
Helium burning in the convective cores of horizontal branch and `red clump' stars appears to involve a process of `ingestion' of unburnt helium into the core, the physics of which has not been identified yet. I show here that a limiting…
An analysis of high-resolution near-infrared spectra of a sample of 45 asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars towards the Galactic bulge is presented. The sample consists of two subsamples, a larger one in the inner and intermediate bulge, and…
The hydrogen-deficiency in extremely hot post-AGB stars of spectral class PG1159 is probably caused by a (very) late helium-shell flash or a AGB final thermal pulse that consumes the hydrogen envelope, exposing the usually-hidden intershell…