A Review in Mixed Chemistry of Low Mass Evolved Stars

Abstract

During the late stages of their evolution, Sun-like stars bring the products of nuclear burning to the surface. Although there is a chemical dichotomy between oxygen-rich and carbon-rich evolved stars, the dredge-up itself has never been directly observed. In the last three decades, however, a few stars have been shown to display both carbon- and oxygen-rich material in their circumstellar envelopes. These phenomena is seen in both Galactic Disk and Bulge planetary nebulae. For the Galactic Disk objects the mixed chemistry phenomenon is best explained through a recent dredge-up of carbon produced by nucleosynthesis inside the star during the Asymptotic Giant Branch that changed the surface chemistry of the star. On the contrary, we conclude that the mixed chemistry phenomenon occurring in the Galactic Bulge planetary nebulae is best explained through hydrocarbon chemistry in an ultraviolet (UV)-irradiated, dense torus.