The Role of Binarity in the Evolution of Peculiar Red Giants

Abstract

There are several types of Peculiar Red Giants (PRG's) which have enhanced s-process elements and/or carbon, but which cannot be explained by mixing during helium shell-flashing in the late stages of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) evolution. These are the Ball, CH, sgCH, and the hotter R-type carbon stars. All these PRG's have absolute magnitudes which range down to zero and fainter. The Ball stars (Bidelman & Keenan 1951) are G-K giants whose spectra have strong CN and CH bands, and in extreme cases bands of C2 become noticeable. In addition they have strong lines of s-process elements such as Ball and SrII. The CH stars (Keenan 1942) are Population II equivalents of the Ball stars, and show similar spectral features, but with weaker metal lines, and usually stronger carbon bands. Bond (1974) introduced a new class of late F and G stars named the CH subgiants, which he suggests are fainter than the classical CH and Ball stars. They appear to be of mixed population (Luck & Bond 1982), and they are probably subgiants which will eventually evolve up the giant branch to become classical CH and Ball stars. The R-type carbon stars, at least the hotter (R0-R4) ones, differ from many of the other peculiar red giants in that they do not show enhanced s-process element abundances. The R stars have strong carbon bands, but relative to the N-type carbon stars they have less blue and ultraviolet absorption in their spectra. They range in absolute magnitude from near zero, similar to the Ball stars, up to several magnitudes brighter than this.