Related papers: Probing stellar evolution with S stars and Gaia
Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars are good tracers of the Galactic structure. They are bright in the infrared and can therefore be detected even in the most obscured regions of the Galaxy. Maser emission from their circumstellar envelopes…
A sample of 45 symbiotic stars observed in the direction of the galactic bulge are classified in spectral type using TiO $\lambda \lambda 6180, 7100 \AA$ and VO $\lambda \lambda 7865 \AA$ absorption feature indices and visual comparison.…
The Thermally-Pulsating Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) phase of stellar evolution has received attention only recently in galaxy evolution, but is now an important player in our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve. Because it is…
We present here a study of the Infrared properties of Asymptotic Giant Branch stars (hereafter AGB) based on existing databases, mainly from space-borne experiments. Preliminary results about C and S stars are discussed, focusing on the…
Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars play a key role in the chemical evolution of galaxies. These stars are the fundamental stellar site for the production of light elements such as C, N and F, and half of the elements heavier than Fe via…
We present a large set of theoretical isochrones, whose distinctive features mostly reside on the greatly improved treatment of the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase. Essentially, we have coupled the TP-AGB tracks…
High dispersion near-infrared spectra have been taken of seven highly-evolved, variable, intermediate-mass (4-6 Msun) AGB stars in the LMC and SMC in order to look for C, N and O variations that are expected to arise from third dredge-up…
In this paper we discuss the impact of the s-process nucleosynthesis in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars on the enrichment of heavy elements. We review the main steps made on this subject in the last 40 years and discuss the importance of…
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…
Stellar winds observed in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are usually attributed to a combination of stellar pulsations and radiation pressure on dust. Shock waves triggered by pulsations propagate through the atmosphere, compressing…
We report the serendipitous discovery of two RR Lyrae stars exhibiting significant s-process element enrichment, a rare class previously represented solely by TY Gruis. Our goal is to characterise these objects chemically and dynamically,…
The heavy mass loss observed in evolved asymptotic giant branch stars is usually attributed to a two-step process: atmospheric levitation by pulsation-induced shock waves, followed by radiative acceleration of newly formed dust grains.…
Barium (Ba) stars help to verify asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star nucleosynthesis models since they experienced pollution from an AGB binary companion and thus their spectra carry the signatures of the slow neutron capture process (s…
Contrary to previous expectations, recent evolutionary models of zero-metallicity stars show that the development of mixing episodes at the beginning of the AGB phase allows low- and intermediate-mass stars to experience thermal pulses. If…
We investigate the composition of the solid-state materials in the winds around S-type AGB stars. The S stars produce dust in their wind that bears a resemblance to the dust produced in some O-rich AGB stars. However, the reported…
Lithium and zirconium abundances (the latter taken as representative for s-process enrichment) are determined for a large sample of massive Galactic O-rich AGB stars, for which high resolution optical spectroscopy has been obtained…
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…
Planetary nebulae retain the signature of the nucleosynthesis and mixing events that occurred during the previous AGB phase. Observational signatures complement observations of AGB and post-AGB stars and their binary companions. The…
In this chapter the focus is on the properties of post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (post-AGB) stars in binary systems. Their Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) are very characteristic: they show a near-infrared excess, indicative of the…
Recent observations of heavy elements in Globular Clusters reveal intriguing deviations from the standard paradigm of the early galactic nucleosynthesis. If the r-process contamination is a common feature of halo stars, s-process…