Related papers: On the formation of molecules and solid-state comp…
Molecules and dust are formed in and around the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and supernovae (SNe), and are ejected into the interstellar medium (ISM) through the stellar wind. The dust and gas contain elements newly synthesised in…
Dust is formed in the expanding atmosphere during late stages of stellar evolution. Dust influences the dynamics and thermodynamics of the stellar atmosphere by its opacity. The dust opacity depends both on the optical properties of the…
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…
Recent advances in constructing stellar evolution models of hydrogen-deficient post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are presented. Hydrogen-deficiency can originate from mixing and subsequent convective burning of protons in the deeper…
During their thermally pulsing phase, Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars eject material that forms extended dusty envelopes. Visible polarimetric imaging found clumpy dust clouds within two stellar radii of several oxygen-rich stars.…
We examine the envelope properties of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars as they evolve on the upper AGB and during the early post-AGB phase. Due to the high mass loss rate, the envelope mass decreases by more than an order of magnitude.…
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,…
The determination of heavy element abundances from planetary nebula (PN) spectra provides an exciting opportunity to study the nucleosynthesis occurring in the progenitor asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. We perform post-processing…
We present a review of the main phases of stellar evolution with particular emphasis on the nucleosynthesis and mixing mechanisms in low- and intermediate-mass stars. In addition to explicit studies of the effects of the first, second and…
Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars are typified by strong dust-driven, molecular outflows. For long, it was believed that the molecular setup of the circumstellar envelope of AGB stars is primarily determined by the atmospheric C/O ratio.…
We present the results of s-process nucleosynthesis calculations for AGB stars of different metallicities and initial masses. The computations were based on previously published stellar evolutionary models that account for the III dredge up…
The evolution of galaxies is driven by the birth and death of stars. AGB stars are at the end points of their evolution and therefore their luminosities directly reflect their birth mass; this enables us to reconstruct the star formation…
The atmospheres of evolved red giants are considerably influenced by pulsations of the stellar interiors and developing stellar winds. The resulting complex velocity fields severely affect molecular line profiles observable in NIR spectra.…
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…
We study the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolution of stars with masses between $1~M_{\odot} - 8.5~M_{\odot}$. We focus on stars with a solar chemical composition, which allows us to interpret evolved stars in the Galaxy. We present a…
We trace the full evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars ($1 M_{\odot} \leq M \leq 8M_{\odot}$) during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase in the {\it Spitzer} two-color and color-magnitude diagrams. We follow the formation and…
We discuss the basic physical model and the relevant processes responsible for creating and shaping planetary nebulae out of a cool AGB wind envelope. We show that a hydrodynamical treatment along the upper AGB leads quite naturally to more…
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…
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…
Two types of models for the formation of semi-periodic concentric multiple shells (M-shells) around asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and in planetary nebulae are compared against observations. Models that attribute the M-shells to…