M. Meixner

THE DUST BUDGET OF THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD: ARE ASYMPTOTIC GIANT BRANCH STARS THE PRIMARY DUST SOURCE AT LOW METALLICITY?

We estimate the total dust input from the cool evolved stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, using the 8 μm excess emission as a proxy for the dust-production rate (DPR). We find that asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and red supergiant (RSG) stars produce (8.6-9.5) × 10–7 M ☉ yr–1 of dust, depending on the fraction of far-infrared sources that belong to the evolved star population (with 10%-50% uncertainty in individual DPRs). RSGs contribute the least (<4%), while carbon-rich AGB stars (especially the so-called extreme AGB stars) account for 87%-89% of the total dust input from cool evolved stars. We also estimate the dust input from hot stars and supernovae (SNe), and find that if SNe produce 10–3 M ☉ of dust each, then the total SN dust input and AGB input are roughly equivalent. We consider several scenarios of SN dust production and destruction and find that the interstellar medium (ISM) dust can be accounted for solely by stellar sources if all SNe produce dust in the quantities seen around the dustiest examples and if most SNe explode in dense regions where much of the ISM dust is shielded from the shocks. We find that AGB stars contribute only 2.1% of the ISM dust. Without a net positive contribution from SNe to the dust budget, this suggests that dust must grow in the ISM or be formed by another unknown mechanism.

Evolution of the Circumstellar Molecular Envelope. I. A BIMA CO Survey of Evolved Stars

This paper reports the results of a small imaging survey of eight evolved stars including two AGB stars (IRC +10216 and Mira), five proto-planetary nebula (PPN) candidates (AFGL 2688, IRAS 22272+5435, HD 161796, 89 Her, and HD 179821), and a planetary nebula (PN, NGC 7027). We present high-resolution 12CO J = 1 → 0 maps of their full molecular envelopes made by combining BIMA Millimeter Array and NRAO 12 m telescope observations. For the PPNe and PN, the neutral molecular envelopes are compared with images taken at optical, near-IR, and mid-IR wavelengths. Drawing from the literature, we augmented our BIMA survey sample to 38 well-studied sources with CO emission maps. We classified this sample of sources based on the kinematics and morphologies of the CO emission into three types: spherical/elliptical/shell sources, disk sources, and structured outflow sources. Confirming previous studies, we find strong evidence for the photodissociation of the molecular envelope as an object evolves from the AGB to PN stages. While the spherical AGB stars follow theoretical expectations for mass-loss rate versus envelope size, the post-AGB structured outflow sources have significantly higher mass-loss rates than expected probably because of their recent superwinds. We find evidence that the structured outflows are clearly younger than the AGB wind. The disk sources have little correlation between mass-loss rate and envelope size because their properties are determined more by the properties of the central stars and disk evolution than by the mass-loss rate history that shapes the spherical and structured-outflow sources.

FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS, INTEGRATED RED GIANT BRANCH MASS LOSS, AND DUST PRODUCTION IN THE GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTER 47 TUCANAE

Fundamental parameters and time evolution of mass loss are investigated for post-main-sequence stars in the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104). This is accomplished by fitting spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to existing optical and infrared photometry and spectroscopy, to produce a true Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We confirm the clusters distance as d = 4611+213 –200 pc and age as 12 ± 1 Gyr. Horizontal branch models appear to confirm that no more red giant branch mass loss occurs in 47 Tuc than in the more metal-poor ω Centauri, though difficulties arise due to inconsistencies between the models. Using our SEDs, we identify those stars that exhibit infrared excess, finding excess only among the brightest giants: dusty mass loss begins at a luminosity of ~1000 L ☉, becoming ubiquitous above L = 2000 L ☉. Recent claims of dust production around lower-luminosity giants cannot be reproduced, despite using the same archival Spitzer imagery.

An Infrared Census of DUST in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer (DUSTiNGS). IV. Discovery of High-redshift AGB Analogs

The survey for DUST in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer (DUSTiNGS) identified several candidate Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in nearby dwarf galaxies and showed that dust can form even in very metal-poor systems (Z ∼0.008Z ). Here, we present a follow-up survey with WFC3/IR on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), using filters that are capable of distinguishing carbon-rich (C-type) stars from oxygen-rich (M-type) stars: F127M, F139M, and F153M. We include six star-forming DUSTiNGS galaxies (NGC147, IC 10, Pegasus dIrr, SextansB, SextansA, and SagDIG), all more metal-poor than the Magellanic Clouds and spanning 1 dex in metallicity. We double the number of dusty AGB stars known in these galaxies and find that most are carbon rich. We also find 26 dusty Mtype stars, mostly in IC 10. Given the large dust excess and tight spatial distribution of these M-type stars, they are most likely on the upper end of the AGB mass range (stars undergoing Hot Bottom Burning). Theoretical models do not predict significant dust production in metal-poor M-type stars, but we see evidence for dust excess around M-type stars even in the most metal-poor galaxies in our sample (12 + log(O/H) = 7.26 − 7.50). The low metallicities and inferred high stellar masses (up to ∼10 M ) suggest that AGB stars can produce dust very early in the evolution of galaxies (∼30 Myr after they form), and may contribute significantly to the dust reservoirs seen in high-redshift galaxies.

Spitzer/MIPS Imaging of the Extremely Extended Dust Shell(s) around R Hya

We present Spitzer/MIPS far-infrared (FIR) mapping of O-rich AGB star, R Hya.

Mapping the Circumstellar Envelope of OH26.5+0.6

We report the detection of CO J=l-0 of the circumstellar envelope of OH 26.5+0.6. From modelling both the dust and CO, we deduce that the envelope structure is as followed : a superwind with a mass loss rate of 5×l0-4 M⊙ yr-1 surrounded by a tenuous wind of 10-6 M⊙ yr-1

Core-Halo Structures in the 12CO Emission of CIT 6, AFGL 618 and IRAS 21282+5050

We present full synthesis 12CO J= 1-0 line emission images of three carbon rich evolved stars: CIT 6, AFGL 618 and IRAS 21282+5050. Each of these objects represents a different stage of evolution: CIT 6 is a carbon star still on the AGB, AFGL 618 is a transition object, and IRAS 21282+5050 is a young planetary nebula. Common to all three sources, we find what appears to be two mass loss components: a bright “core” located at the center of the source and a fainter “halo” surrounding the core (see Table below for observed characteristics). We speculate that the bright core was created by a more recent and higher mass loss rate wind than the fainter surrounding halo. However, concrete support for this idea awaits radiative transfer modelling of the 12CO that we are currently pursuing. Our full synthesis data are combined from millimeter interferometry using the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland millimeter array (BIMA) and single dish maps using the NRAO 12m. We find that full-synthesis imaging, which combines the sensitivity of single dish and the spatial resolution of interferometry, is the only means to reveal such core-halo structures.

The onset of axial symmetry in protoplanetary nebulae

We have obtained resolved IR images, at wavelengths from 1.2µm to 12.5µm, of a small sample of protoplanetary nebulae. The results suggest that all PPNe are axially, not spherically, symmetric, that spherical symmetry ends at the tip of the AGB, and that AGB evolution terminates with a burst of remarkably rapid, equatorially concentrated mass-loss.