Related papers: On an Early - Post-AGB Instability

As stars evolve along the Asymptotic Giant Branch, strong winds are driven from the outer envelope. These winds form a shell, which may ultimately become a planetary nebula. Many planetary nebulae are highly asymmetric, hinting at the…

Evolved stars dominate galactic spectra, enrich the galactic medium, expand to change their planetary systems, eject winds of a complex nature, produce spectacular nebulae and illuminate them, and transfer material between binary…

This review discusses some of the observational constraints on what we know about the mass loss experienced by stars in the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase of evolution. Mass loss affects the maximum mass attained by the core of an AGB…

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…

Very massive stars are thought to be formed in the early Universe because of a lack of cooling process by heavy elements, and might have been responsible for the later evolution of the Universe. We had an interest in vibrational stability…

The specific characteristic of the SED of serendipitously discovered post-AGB binaries, allowed us to launch a very extensive multi-wavelength study of evolved objects, selected on the basis of very specific selection criteria. Those…

Using a radiation-hydrodynamics code I follow the formation of planetary nebulae around stars of different mass. Because a more massive central star evolves much faster than a lower mass one, it is to be expected that this will affect the…

Since 2013 we are performing with the Nancay Radio Telescope (NRT) a monitoring program of >100 Galactic disk OH/IR stars, having bright 1612-MHz OH maser emission. The variations of the maser emission are used to probe the underlying…

We discuss velocity variations in different layers of an AGB star's atmosphere. Periodic and nonperiodic changes are observed. From a large sample of data we derive mean velocity curves for miras and semiregular variables.

The puzzling origin of the ``UV-upturn'' phenomenon, observed in some elliptical galaxies, has recently been settled by identifying hot HB stars as main contributors to galaxy ultraviolet luminosity excess. While a blue HB morphology seems…

We explore one of plausible causes of asymmetry in the wind of an AGB star - the presence of a binary companion. We have developed a simple method for estimating the intrinsic non-sphericity of the outflow in that case. Assuming the Roche…

The wind-driving mechanism of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars is commonly attributed to a two-step process: first, gas in the stellar atmosphere is levitated by shockwaves caused by stellar pulsation, then accelerated outwards by…

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…

Thermal emission from a rotating, supermassive star will cause the configuration to contract slowly and spin up. If internal viscosity and magnetic fields are sufficiently weak, the contracting star will rotate differentially. For each of…

We have investigated the dynamical interaction of low- and-intermediate mass stars (from 1 to 5 Msun) with their interstellar medium (ISM). In this first paper, we examine the structures generated by the stellar winds during the Asymptotic…

Context: Observations of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with increasing spatial resolution reveal new layers of complexity of atmospheric processes on a variety of scales. Aim: To analyze the physical mechanisms that cause asymmetries…

Stars of intermediate mass (~4-8Msun) evolve to the stage of white dwarfs through the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stage: stationary hydrogen shell burning and helium thermal pulses, wind mass loss and planetary nebula ejection. Almost the…

We investigate the observable characteristics of the extended atmospheres of AGB stars across a wide range of radio and (sub-)mm wavelengths using state-of-the-art 1D dynamical atmosphere and wind models over one pulsation period. We also…

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…

Interstellar dust forms during stellar mass-loss events, occurring either during a star's giant phase or during supernova explosions. This PhD thesis provides an in-depth investigation into the theory of dust condensation and growth,…