The occurrence of carbon stars and Cepheid variables in common fields of the Magellanic Clouds

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (11) References (63) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The occurrence of carbon stars and cepheid variables in common fields of the Magellanic Cloud. Becker, S. A. Abstract It has been suggested that the apparent lack of carbon stars brighter than M(bol) = -6.5 in the Magellanic Clouds may be due to an 'age effect' in the fields that have been studied. This 'age effect' implies that no recent star formation has occurred and that consequently the individual mass of any of the remaining stars is too small to produce very bright carbon stars. To test this hypothesis, these same fields are searched for Cepheid variables whose presence would on the contrary indicate that recent star formation has taken place. It is found that Cepheids occur in nearly all of the studied fields, which invalidates the 'age effect' hypothesis. It is argued that carbon stars are not observed brighter than M(bol) = -6.5 because of the effect of 'envelope burning' following the dredge-up episodes. Instead, asymptotic giant branch stars having luminosities with M(bol) between -6.5 and -7.3 should be seen as 'red variables,' bright early M giants, or possibly early M supergiants. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: September 1982 DOI: 10.1086/160289 Bibcode: 1982ApJ...260..695B Keywords: Carbon Stars; Cepheid Variables; Magellanic Clouds; Stellar Evolution; Stellar Luminosity; Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars; Giant Stars; Nuclear Fusion; Stellar Envelopes; Stellar Mass; Stellar Structure; Tables (Data); Astrophysics full text sources ADS | data products NED (194) SIMBAD (193)