Related papers: Exploring circumstellar chemistry in X-ray emittin…
Context. The transition from the spherically symmetric envelopes around asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars to the asymmetric morphologies observed in planetary nebulae is still not well understood, and the shaping mechanisms are a subject…
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.…
The circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars harbour a rich variety of molecules and are sites of complex chemistry. Our current understanding of the circumstellar chemical processes of carbon-rich AGB stars is…
A multi-transition survey of HCN (sub-) millimeter line emission from a large sample of AGB stars of different chemical type is presented. The data are analysed and circumstellar HCN abundances are estimated. The sample stars span a large…
AGB stars are major contributors to the chemical enrichment of the ISM through nucleosynthesis and extensive mass loss. Most of our current knowledge of AGB atmospheric and circumstellar chemistry, in particular in a C-rich environment, is…
Aims: We aim to determine the abundances of SiO, CS, SiS, SO, and SO$_2$ in a large sample of oxygen-rich AGB envelopes covering a wide range of mass loss rates to investigate the potential role that these molecules could play in the…
Our current insights into the circumstellar chemistry of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are largely based on studies of carbon-rich stars and stars with high mass-loss rates. In order to expand the current molecular inventory of…
Magnetic fields have been measured around Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars of all chemical types using maser polarization observations. If present, a large-scale magnetic field would lead to X-ray emission, which should be observable…
The main aim is to derive reliable mass-loss rates and circumstellar SiO abundances for a sample of 40 S-type AGB stars based on new multi-transitional CO and SiO radio line observations. In addition, the results are compared to previous…
Recent high spatial resolution observations of gas and dust in the circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of AGB stars indicate morphologies much more complex than the smooth density distributions generated by spherically symmetric, constant mass…
New SiS multi-transition (sub-)millimetre line observations of a sample of AGB stars with varying photospheric C/O-ratios and mass-loss rates are presented. A combination of low- and high-energy lines are important in constraining the…
New SiO multi-transition millimetre line observations of a sample of carbon stars, including J=8-7 observations with the APEX telescope, are used to probe the role of non-equilibrium chemistry and the influence of grains in circumstellar…
The circumstellar envelopes of carbon-rich AGB stars show a chemical complexity that is exemplified by the prototypical object IRC +10216, in which about 60 different molecules have been detected to date. Most of these species are carbon…
Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars shed a significant amount of their mass in the form of a stellar wind, creating a vast circumstellar envelope (CSE). Owing to the ideal combination of relatively high densities and cool temperatures, CSEs…
Isotopologue line intensity ratios of circumstellar molecules have been widely used to trace the photospheric elemental isotopic ratios of evolved stars. However, depending on the molecular species and the physical conditions of the…
The spatial distribution of molecules in AGB circumstellar envelopes is regulated by different processes. In the outer layers all molecules are destroyed due to the interaction with interstellar ultraviolet photons. Here we aim to…
The nearby Sy 1 galaxy NGC 1097 represents an ideal laboratory to explore the molecular chemistry in the presence and surroundings of an active galactic nucleus. Exploring the distribution of different molecular species allows us to…
Context. With the outstanding spatial resolution and sensitivity of the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA), molecular gas other than the abundant CO can be observed and resolved in circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) around…
(abridged) Our aim is to determine the radial abundance profile of SiO and HCN throughout the stellar outflow of R Dor, an oxygen-rich AGB star with a low mass-loss rate. We have analysed molecular transitions of CO, SiO, and HCN measured…
Context. There is a class of binary post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) stars that exhibit remarkable near-infrared (NIR) excess. Such stars are surrounded by Keplerian or quasi-Keplerian disks, as well as extended outflows composed of…