Related papers: Mid-IR Imaging of AGB Circumstellar Envelopes
Detailed atmospheric abundances have been calculated for a sample of A-G supergiant stars with IR fluxes and/or high galactic latitudes. HD 172481 and HD 158616 show clear indications of being post-AGB stars that have experienced third…
It is commonly believed that winds of cool giants in their late evolutionary stages are driven by radiative pressure on dust grains, but the actual grain species responsible for driving winds of M-type AGB stars are still a matter of debate…
Winds of AGB stars are thought to be driven by a combination of pulsation-induced shock waves and radiation pressure on dust. In dynamic atmosphere and wind models, the stellar pulsation is often simulated by prescribing a simple sinusoidal…
We use ground-based imaging polarimetry to detect and image the dusty circumstellar envelopes of a sample of proto-planetary nebulae (PPNe) at near-infrared wavelengths. We detect extended (up to 9 arcsec diameter) circumstellar envelopes…
We trace the full evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars ($1 M_{\odot} \leq M \leq 8M_{\odot}$) during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase in the {\it Spitzer} two-color and color-magnitude diagrams. We follow the formation and…
We reproduce the expansion velocity--radius ($V_{\rm{exp}}$--$R_{\rm{n}}$) relation in planetary nebulae by considering a simple dynamical model, in order to investigate the dynamical evolution and formation of planetary nebulae. In our…
The density profiles of cool envelopes of young Planetary Nebulae (PNe) are reminiscent of the final AGB outflow history of the central star, so far as these have not yet been transformed by the hot wind and radiation of the central star.…
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 popular self--enrichment scenario for the formation of globular clusters assumes that the abundance anomalies shown by the stars in many clusters are due to a second stage of star formation occurring from the matter lost by the winds of…
Dust is formed in the expanding atmosphere during late stages of stellar evolution. Dust influences the dynamics and thermodynamics of the stellar atmosphere by its opacity. The dust opacity depends both on the optical properties of the…
Context. The Mass loss of Evolved StarS (MESS) sample observed with PACS on board the Herschel Space Observatory revealed that several asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are surrounded by an asymmetric circumstellar envelope (CSE) whose…
We have performed high spatial resolution observations of SiO line emission for a sample of 11 AGB stars using the ATCA, VLA and SMA interferometers. Detailed radiative transfer modelling suggests that there are steep chemical gradients of…
Radio and infrared interferometry of SiO maser stars provide complementary information on the atmosphere and circumstellar environment at comparable spatial resolution. Here, we present the latest results on the atmospheric structure and…
From existing broad-band images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, we located 92 globules, for which we derived positions, dimensions, orientations, extinctions, masses, proper motions, and their distributions. The globules have mean…
NLTE spectral analyses of high-gravity central stars by means of state-of-the-art model atmosphere techniques provide information about the precursor AGB stars. The hydrogen-deficient post-AGB stars allow investigations on the intershell…
Low- and intermediate-mass stars evolve through the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), when an efficient mass-loss process removes a significant fraction of their initial mass. A substantial increase in the mass-loss rate at the end of the AGB…
The study of post asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) stars is a valuable tool to study still poorly known aspects of the evolution of the stars through the AGB. This is due to the accurate determination of their surface chemical composition…
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…
Low- and intermediate-mass stars at the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) are known to be prevalent dust providers to galaxies. However, the mechanisms responsible for the formation and acceleration of dust in the cool extended atmospheres of…
The carbonaceous macromolecules imprinting in astronomical spectra the numerous absorptions called Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs) are omnipresent in the Galaxy and beyond and represent a considerable reservoir of organic matter. However,…