Related papers: The post-AGB evolution of AGB mass loss variations
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…
We explore modifications to the current scenario for the slow neutron capture process in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars to account for the Pb deficiency observed in post-AGB stars of low metallicity ([Fe/H] ~ -1.2) and low initial mass…
Context: Mass loss plays a dominant role in the evolution of low mass stars while they are on the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB). The gas and dust ejected during this phase are a major source in the mass budget of the interstellar medium.…
A sample of 116 Long Period Variables is studied with the aim to reveal relations between the properties of their light curves and of their evolution along the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB). Each light curve is carefully scrutinized and its…
We examine the flow from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars when along a small solid angle the optical depth due to dust is very large. We consider two types of flows. In the first, small cool spots are formed on the surface of slowly…
The mass-loss rates and dust-to-gas ratios of obscured Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars are investigated for samples with different initial metallicities: in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC & LMC) and in the Milky Way. The…
The Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) scenario for the formation of multiple populations has been quantitatively studied in the course of the latest twenty years, examining the aspects both of nucleosynthesis and of the dynamics of formation of…
Binary interactions dominate the evolution of massive stars, but their role is less clear for low- and intermediate-mass stars. The evolution of a spherical wind from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star into a nonspherical planetary…
Mass loss through stellar winds governs the evolution of stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). In the case of carbon-rich AGB stars, the wind is believed to be driven by radiation pressure on amorphous carbon (amC) dust forming in the…
In the final stages of stellar evolution low- to intermediate-mass stars lose their envelope in increasingly massive stellar winds. Such winds affect the interstellar medium and the galactic chemical evolution as well as the circumstellar…
Low- and intermediate-mass stars go through a period of intense mass-loss at the end of their lives in a phase known as the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). During the AGB a significant fraction of their initial mass is expelled in a stellar…
Stars with masses between roughly 1 and 8~$M_\odot$ end their lives on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), when intense mass loss takes place. The outflows are generally accepted to be driven by radiation pressure acting on dust grains that…
A radiative transfer code is used to model the spectral energy distributions of 57 mass-losing Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars and red supergiants (RSGs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) for which ISO spectroscopic and photometric…
The present article is written in the wake of a recently published study of the relation between the light curves of Long Period Variables and their evolution along the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB). It introduces a pair of new parameters…
AGB stars, the precursors of Planetary Nebulae, exhibit high rates of mass loss and eject material in the form of a slow (10-20 km/s), dusty molecular wind. The general belief that the dust component of AGB circumstellar envelopes have…
The material lost through stellar winds of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars is one of the main contributors to the chemical enrichment of galaxies. The general hypothesis of the mass loss mechanism of AGB winds is a combination of…
We have monitored over a ten-year interval the light variations of five evolved stars with very large mid-infrared excesses. All five objects appear to have oxygen-rich or mixed oxygen-rich and carbon-rich chemistries. They all vary in…
This thesis is aimed at clarifying one of the least studied phases of stellar evolution: the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Recent results obtained for Galactic globular clusters (GCs) suggest that the AGB stage may contain crucial…
We derive the conditions for a backflow toward the central star(s) of circumstellar material to occur during the post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. The backflowing material may be accreted by the post-AGB star and/or its companion,…
A parameter study of the spectral evolution of a typical post-AGB star, with particular emphasis on the evolution of the infrared colours, is presented. The models are based on the latest evolutionary tracks for hydrogen burning post-AGB…