Related papers: Mass-Losing Semiregular Variable Stars in Baade's …

Context: Red super-giant (RSG) stars exhibit significant mass loss through a slow and dense wind. They are often considered to be the more massive counter parts of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. While the AGB mass loss is linked to…

We present the results of a near-infrared monitoring programme of a selected sample of stars, initially suspected to be Mira variables and OH/IR stars, covering more than a decade of observations. The objects monitored cover the typical…

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…

The S-type stars are believed to have a C/O-ratio close to unity (within a few percent). They are considered to represent an intermediate evolutionary stage as AGB stars evolve from oxygen-rich M-type stars into carbon stars. As possible…

ASAS, MACHO, OGLE and SAAO JHKL light curves of 13 stars, that have at some time been classified as D-type symbiotics, are analysed. Most of the near-IR light-curves that have been monitored over many years show long-term changes due to…

Dust radiative transfer models are presented for all 374 AGB stars candidates in one of the fields observed by the new VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC). Mass-loss rates, luminosities and a classification of C- and O-rich stars…

Low- and intermediate-mass stars are one of the important dust sources in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies. The compositions of dust ejected from these stars are likely to affect those in the ISM. We investigate dust in…

The purpose of this work is to present an extensive grid of dynamical atmosphere and wind models for M-type AGB stars, covering a wide range of relevant stellar parameters. We used the DARWIN code, which includes frequency-dependent…

Mass-loss from massive stars is fundamental to stellar and galactic evolution and enrichment of the interstellar medium. Reliable determination of mass-loss rate is dependent upon unravelling details of massive star outflows, including…

We present a study of ISOGAL sources in the "intermediate" galactic bulge ($|$$l$$|$ $<$ 2$^\circ$, $|$$b$$|$ $\sim$ 1$^\circ$--4$^\circ$), observed by ISOCAM at 7 and 15 $\mu m$. In combination with near-infrared (I, J, K$_{\rm s}$) data…

High spatial resolution techniques have given valuable insights into the mass loss mechanism of AGB stars, which presumably involves a combination of atmospheric levitation by pulsation-induced shock waves and radiation pressure on dust.…

We combine variability information from the MAssive Compact Halo Objects (MACHO) survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with infrared photometry from the Spitzer Space Telescope Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE) survey…

We present a new analysis of the long-period variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) from the MACHO Variable Star Catalog. Three-quarters of our sample of evolved, variable stars have periodic light curves. We characterize the stars…

Context. Extremely reddened AGB stars lose mass at high rates of >10^-5 Msun/yr. This is the very last stage of AGB evolution, in which stars in the mass range 2.0--4.0 Msun (for solar metallicity) should have been converted to C stars…

We investigate infrared properties of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in our Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds using various infrared observational data and theoretical models. We use catalogs for the sample of 4996 AGB stars in our…

We present the results of an investigation of post-Main Sequence mass loss from stars in clusters in the Magellanic Clouds, based around an imaging survey in the L'-band (3.8 micron) performed with the VLT at ESO. The data are complemented…

In 1981, the idea of a superwind that ends the life of cool giant stars was proposed. Extreme OH/IR-stars develop superwinds with the highest mass-loss rates known so far, up to a few 10^(-4) Msun/yr, informing our understanding of the…

The formation of silicates in circumstellar envelopes of stars evolving through the AGB is still debated given the uncertainties affecting stellar evolution modelling, the description of the dust formation process, and the capability of…

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…

Many aspects of the evolutionary phase in which Asymptotic Giant Branch stars (AGB stars) are in transition to become Planetary Nebulae (PNe) are still poorly understood. An important question is how the circumstellar envelopes of AGB stars…