Related papers: What is the Shell Around R Coronae Borealis?
Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) explosions are powerful and frequent enough to make kiloparsec-size shells and holes in the interstellar media of spiral galaxies. The observations of such remnants are summarized. Several observed shells contain no…
Globular clusters contain many stars with surface abundance patterns indicating contributions from hydrogen burning products, as seen in the anti-correlated elemental abundances of e.g. sodium and oxygen, and magnesium and aluminium.…
Spectra of several R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars at maximum light were examined for the [C I] 9850 A and 8727 A absorption lines. The 9850 A line is variously blended with a Fe II and CN lines but positive identifications of the [C I] line…
We have derived CNO abundances in 12 RR Lyrae stars. Four stars show [C/Fe] near 0.0 and two stars show [C/Fe] = 0.52 and 0.65. Red giant branch stars, which are known to be the predecessors of RR Lyrae stars, generally show a deficiency of…
Evolved low- to intermediate-mass stars are known to shed their gaseous envelope into a large, dusty, molecule-rich circumstellar nebula which typically develops a high degree of structural complexity. Most of the large-scale, spatially…
Was star formation in the OB associations, LH 51 and LH 54, triggered by the growth of the superbubble DEM 192? To examine this possibility, we investigate the stellar contents and star formation history, and model the evolution of the…
The massive, luminous Population I Wolf-Rayet stars can be considered as stars with the highest known sustained mass loss rates. Around 10% of WR stars may form carbon-rich dust in their dense and inhomogeneous winds. Though we are yet to…
We have obtained deep spectroscopic observations of several nearby gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies revealing for the first time the presence of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and numerous O stars located in rich and compact clusters or star…
Many asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and supergiant stars exhibit extended detached shells in the far-infrared, resembling rings or arcs. These structures have long been interpreted as the bow shock formed in the interface between the stellar…
Motivated by recent observations suggesting that core-collapse supernovae may on average produce ~0.3 M_sun of dust, we explore a simple dust production scenario which applies to star-forming galaxies in the local environment (the…
Dust waves and bow waves result from the action of a star's radiation pressure on a stream of dusty plasma that flows past it. They are an alternative mechanism to hydrodynamic bow shocks for explaining the curved arcs of infrared emission…
Mass loss from massive stars ($\ga 8 \msun$) can result in the formation of circumstellar wind blown cavities surrounding the star, bordered by a thin, dense, cold shell. When the star explodes as a core-collapse supernova (SN), the…
High-resolution optical spectra of the R Coronae Borealis (RBC) star V854 Centauri in the early stages of a decline show, in addition to the features reported for other RCBs in decline, narrow absorption lines from the C_2 Phillips system.…
Intermediate-mass stars end their lives by ejecting the bulk of their envelope via a slow dense wind back into the interstellar medium, to form the next generation of stars and planets. Stellar pulsations are thought to elevate gas to an…
Long-period variables (LPVs) and Miras are highly evolved stars at the upper region of the asymptotic giant branch. They exhibit a pronounced variability of their luminosity with a more or less well defined period and suffer large mass loss…
We are undertaking the first systematic infrared (IR) census of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars in the Milky Way, beginning with IR light curves from the Palomar Gattini IR (PGIR) survey. PGIR is a 30 cm $J$-band telescope with a 25…
We use the analysis of the heavy element abundances (C, N, O, S) in circumstellar nebulae around Luminous Blue Variables to infer the evolutionary phase in which the material has been ejected. (1) We discuss the different effects that may…
Criteria for gravitational collapse of expanding shells in rotating, shearing galaxy disks were determined using three-dimensional numerical simulations in the thin shell approximation. The simulations were run over a grid of 7 independent…
Winds from massive stars have velocities of 1000 km/s or more, and produce hot, high pressure gas when they shock. We develop a theory for the evolution of bubbles driven by the collective winds from star clusters early in their lifetimes,…
We discuss the formation of globules in planetary nebulae, typified by those observed in the Helix Nebula. We show that the properties of the globules, their number, mass, separation, and overall geometry strongly support a scenario in…