Bibcode
Villaver, E.; García-Segura, G.; Manchado, A.
Bibliographical reference
Why Galaxies Care About AGB Stars: Their Importance as Actors and Probes. ASP Conference Series, Vol. 378, proceedings of the conference held 7-11 August 2006 at University Campus, Vienna, Austria. Edited by F. Kerschbaum, C. Charbonnel, and R. F. Wing. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2007., p.345
Advertised on:
11
2007
Citations
1
Refereed citations
1
Description
Low- and intermediate-mass stars (1--8 M&sun;) lose up to 80
% of their initial mass during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase.
Heavy mass loss is the signature of the late AGB phase: at uncertain
rates of 10-6 to 10-3 M&sun;
yr-1, on timescales of ˜ 10^5--10^6 yr, it removes up
to 7 M&sun; of stellar material. We have investigated the
dynamical interaction of these winds with their interstellar medium
(ISM) by using a numerical code and the wind history predicted by
stellar evolution. Our aim is to allow a comparison between the AGB
mass-loss rate predictions and observations of planetary nebula and AGB
shells. According to our simulations, large regions (up to 2.5 pc) of
neutral gas surrounding the molecular envelopes of AGB stars are
expected. These large regions of gas are formed from the mass loss
experienced by the star during AGB evolution and are strongly linked to
the assumed timescales of heavy mass-loss rates.