Related papers: A stellar endgame -- the born-again Sakurai's obje…
Spectral analyses of H-deficient post-AGB stars have shown that a small group of four extremely hot objects exists which have almost pure He absorption-line spectra in the optical. These are classified as O(He) stars. For their evolution…
S-type stars are late-type giants enhanced with s-process elements originating either from nucleosynthesis during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) or from a pollution by a binary companion. The former are called intrinsic S stars, and the…
The connection between helium-rich hot subdwarfs of spectral types O and B (He-sdB) has been relatively unexplored since the latter were found in significant numbers in the 1980's. In order to explore this connection further, we have…
During the late stages of their evolution, Sun-like stars bring the products of nuclear burning to the surface. Most of the carbon in the Universe is believed to originate from stars with masses up to a few solar masses. Although there is a…
Context. The Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf spheroidal galaxy is currently being disrupted under the strain of the Milky Way. A reliable reconstruction of Sgr star formation history can only be obtained by combining core and stream information.…
We present the main results derived from a chemical analysis carried out on a large sample of galactic O-rich AGB stars using high resolution optical spectroscopy (R~40,000-50,000) with the intention of studying their lithium abundances…
The Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr dSph) is a satellite orbiting the Milky Way that has experienced multiple stripping events due to tidal interactions with our Galaxy. Its accretion history led to a distinct stellar overdensity,…
Low-mass, variable, high-velocity stars are interesting study cases for many aspects of Galactic structure and evolution. Until recently, the only known high- or hyper-velocity stars were young stars thought to originate from the Galactic…
To better understand the mixing and mass loss experienced by low-mass stars as they ascend the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), I have gathered from the literature the abundances of CNO and s-process elements in post-AGB stars in Galactic…
We performed a detailed, high-resolution spectroscopic analysis of HE 1005-1439 based on SUBARU/HDS spectra with an R ~ 50000. Abundances of ten light elements from C through Ni and twelve heavy elements Sr, Y, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, Dy,…
We propose a new chemical evolution model aimed at explaining the chemical properties of globular clusters (GC) stars. Our model depends upon the existence of (i) a peculiar pre-enrichment phase in the GC's parent galaxy associated with…
The s-enhanced and very metal-poor star CS 30322-023 shows a puzzling abundance pattern of the neutron-capture elements, i.e. several neutron-capture elements such as Ba, Pb etc. show enhancement, but other neutron-capture elements such as…
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…
We present the discovery of a source with broadband infrared photometric characteristics similar to Sakurai's Object. WISE J180956.27-330500.2 (hereafter, J1810-3305) shows very red WISE colors, but a very blue 2MASS [K] vs. WISE [W1 (3.4…
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 abundance anomalies in chemically peculiar B-F stars are usually explained by diffusion of chemical elements in the stable atmospheres of these stars. But it is well known that Cp stars with similar temperatures and gravities show very…
Hydrogen deficiency and a sudden optical light decline by about 6-8 mag are two principal characteristics of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars. The high latitude carbon star HE 1015-2050 was identified as a hydrogen-deficient carbon star from…
Stellar photospheres of post-asymptotic giant branch stars bear witness to the internal chemical enrichment processes, integrated over their entire stellar evolution. Here we study post-AGB stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). With…
We perform a detailed analysis of the fullerene C60-containing planetary nebula (PN) SaSt2-3 to investigate the physical properties of the central star (B0-1II) and nebula based on our own Subaru/HDS spectra and multiwavelength archival…
S stars are transition objects between M-type giants and carbon stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). They are characterized by overabundances of s-process elements. Roughly half of them are enhanced in technetium (Tc), an s-process…