C-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars Research Articles

Mid-infrared Period--Luminosity relations of Gaia DR3 Long Period Variables

Abstract Long period variable stars (LPVs) are very promising distance indicators in the infrared bands. We selected asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud (LMC and SMC) from the Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) LPV catalog, and classified them into oxygen-rich (O-rich) and carbon-rich (C-rich) AGB stars. Using the WISE database, we determined the $W1$- and $W2$-bands Period--Luminosity relations (PLRs) for each pulsation-mode sequence of AGB stars. The dispersion of the PLRs of O-rich AGB stars in sequences $\rm{C^{'}}$ and C is relatively small, around 0.14 mag. The PLRs of LMC and SMC are consistent in each sequence. 
% while due to selection effect, {\bf the PLR zero points} of Milky Way are significantly underestimated.
In the $W2$ band, the PLR of large-amplitude C-rich AGB stars is steeper than that of small-amplitude C-rich AGB stars, due to their more circumstellar dust. By two methods, we find that some PLR sequences of O-rich AGB stars in the LMC are dependent on metallicity. The coefficients of the metallicity effect are $\beta = -0.533 \pm 0.213 $ mag/dex and $\beta= -0.767 \pm 0.158$ mag/dex for sequence C in $W1$ and $W2$ bands, respectively. The significance of the metallicity effect in $W1$ band for the four sequences is $2.2-3.5 \sigma$. Both of these imply that distance measurements using O-rich Mira maybe need to take the metallicity effect into account.

Internal and External Alignment of Carbonaceous Grains within the Radiative Torque Paradigm

We study the internal and external alignment of carbonaceous grains in the interstellar medium (ISM) within the Radiative Torque (RAT) paradigm. For internal alignment (IA), we find that hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HAC) grains having nuclear paramagnetism due to hydrogen protons have efficient nuclear relaxation, whereas both HAC and graphite grains can have efficient inelastic relaxation at both low-J and high-J attractors. For external alignment, HAC and pure graphite grains can align with the radiation direction (k-RAT) at low-J attractors but cannot have stable alignment at high-J attractors due to the suppression of radiative precession. However, HAC grains can align with the magnetic field (B-RAT) at high-J attractors due to fast Larmor precession compared to gas collisions. For HAC grains drifting through the ISM, they can align along the induced electric field (E-RAT) at low-J attractors due to the fast electric precession and only small HAC grains can align at high-J attractors. Nuclear paramagnetic relaxation is inefficient for HAC due to the suppression of nuclear susceptibility. We then study the alignment of carbon dust in the envelope of a C-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch star (IRC+10216) and find that grains aligned at low-J attractors may occur via k-RAT with the wrong IA in the inner region but via B-RAT in the outer region. However, grains aligned at high-J attractors have the right IA alignment via k-RAT due to efficient inelastic relaxation. The polarization pattern observed toward IRC+10216 by SOFIA/HAWC+ can be reproduced when only grains at low-J attractors are present due to the removal of grains at high-J attractors by the RAT disruption.

Distribution of dust color temperature, dust mass and planck’s function around C-rich AGB star: IRAS 19558+3333 using IRIS, AKARI, and WISE Surveys

The dust properties of C-rich AGB (Asymptotic giant branch) star IRAS 19558+3333 located at right ascension (R.A.) (J2000) = 19h 57m 48.440s and Declination (J2000) = +330 41h 21.250s was studied. The FITS image of this AGB star was obtained by SkyView Virtual Observatory in IRIS, AKARI, and WISE surveys respectively. The flux of ambient medium in the wavelength range of IRIS 60 μm and 100 μm, AKARI 90 μm and 140 μm and WISE 12 μm and 22 μm was calculated along with the physical properties like dust color temperature, dust mass, Planck’s function and visual extinction of the candidate at a distance of 3415.420 pc. The minimum and maximum dust mass is found to be 1.606× 1021 kg (8.030 × 10−10 M⊙), and 7.013 × 1020 kg (3.506× 10−10 M⊙) in IRIS, 2.739 × 1022 kg (1.369× 10−8 M⊙), and 1.292 × 1022 kg (6.460 × 10-9 M⊙) in AKARI and 2.297 × 1020 kg (1.148 × 10−10 M⊙) and 3.013 × 1019 kg (1.506 × 10−11 M⊙) in the WISE survey and the dust color temperature of the corresponding C-rich star average value was found to be 24.230 ± 0.229 K in IRIS, 16.780 ± 0.189 K in AKARI and 123.750 ± 0.430 K in WISE survey. The temperature in WISE was higher than that of the AKARI and WISE surveys.

Synthetic photometry for carbon-rich giants

Context. The properties and the evolution of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are strongly influenced by their mass loss through a stellar wind. This, in turn, is believed to be caused by radiation pressure due to the absorption and scattering of the stellar radiation by the dust grains formed in the atmosphere. The optical properties of dust are often estimated using the small particle limit (SPL) approximation, and it has been used frequently in modelling AGB stellar winds when performing radiation-hydrodynamics (RHD) simulations. Aims. We aim to investigate the effects of replacing the SPL approximation by detailed Mie calculations of the size-dependent opacities for grains of amorphous carbon forming in C-rich AGB star atmospheres. Methods. We performed RHD simulations for a large grid of carbon star atmosphere+wind models with different effective temperatures, luminosities, stellar masses, carbon excesses, and pulsation properties. Also, a posteriori radiative transfer calculations for many radial structures (snapshots) of these models were done, resulting in spectra and filter magnitudes. Results. We find that, when giving up the SPL approximation, the wind models become more strongly variable and more dominated by gusts, although the average mass-loss rates and outflow speeds do not change significantly; the increased radiative pressure on the dust throughout its formation zone does, however, result in smaller grains and lower condensation fractions (and thus higher gas-to-dust ratios). The photometric K magnitudes are generally brighter, but at V the effects of using size-dependent dust opacities are more complex: brighter for low mass-loss rates and dimmer for massive stellar winds. Conclusions. Given the large effects on spectra and photometric properties, it is necessary to use the detailed dust optical data instead of the simple SPL approximation in stellar atmosphere+wind modelling where dust is formed.

A New Catalog of Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars in Our Galaxy

Abstract We present a new catalog of 11,209 O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and 7172 C-rich AGB stars in our Galaxy, identifying more AGB stars in the bulge component and considering more visual carbon stars. For each object, we cross-identify the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), AKARI, Midcourse Space Experiment, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Two-Micron All-Sky Survey, and American Association of Variable Star Observers counterparts. We present the new catalog in two parts: one is based on the IRAS PSC for brighter or more isolated objects; the other one is based on the ALLWISE source catalog for less bright objects or objects in crowded regions. We present various infrared two-color diagrams (2CDs) for the sample stars. We find that the theoretical dust shell models can roughly explain the observations of AGB stars on the various IR 2CDs. We investigate IR properties of SiO and OH maser emission sources in the catalog. For Mira variables in the sample stars, we find that the IR colors get redder for longer pulsation periods. We also study infrared variability of the sample stars using the WISE photometric data in the last 12 yr: the ALLWISE multiepoch data and the Near-Earth Object WISE Reactivation 2021 data release. We generate light curves using the WISE data at W1 and W2 bands and compute the Lomb–Scargle periodograms for all of the sample stars. From the WISE light curves, we have found useful variation parameters for 3710 objects in the catalog, for which periods were either known or unknown in previous works.

Silicon and Hydrogen Chemistry under Laboratory Conditions Mimicking the Atmosphere of Evolved Stars

Silicon is present in interstellar dust grains, meteorites and asteroids, and to date thirteen silicon-bearing molecules have been detected in the gas-phase towards late-type stars or molecular clouds, including silane and silane derivatives. In this work, we have experimentally studied the interaction between atomic silicon and hydrogen under physical conditions mimicking those at the atmosphere of evolved stars. We have found that the chemistry of Si, H and H2 efficiently produces silane (SiH4), disilane (Si2H6) and amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) grains. Silane has been definitely detected towards the carbon-rich star IRC+10216, while disilane has not been detected in space yet. Thus, based on our results, we propose that gas-phase reactions of atomic Si with H and H2 are a plausible source of silane in C-rich AGBs, although its contribution to the total SiH4 abundance may be low in comparison with the suggested formation route by catalytic reactions on the surface of dust grains. In addition, the produced a-Si:H dust analogs decompose into SiH4 and Si2H6 at temperatures above 500 K, suggesting an additional mechanism of formation of these species in envelopes around evolved stars. We have also found that the exposure of these dust analogs to water vapor leads to the incorporation of oxygen into Si-O-Si and Si-OH groups at the expense of SiH moieties, which implies that, if this type of grains are present in the interstellar medium, they will be probably processed into silicates through the interaction with water ices covering the surface of dust grains.

Origin of Large Meteoritic SiC Stardust Grains in Metal-rich AGB Stars

Abstract Stardust grains that originated in ancient stars and supernovae are recovered from meteorites and carry the detailed composition of their astronomical sites of origin. We present evidence that the majority of large (μm-sized) meteoritic silicon carbide (SiC) grains formed in C-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars that were more metal-rich than the Sun. In the framework of the slow neutron captures (the s process) that occur in AGB stars, the lower-than-solar Sr/ Sr isotopic ratios measured in the large SiC grains can only be accompanied by Ce/Y elemental ratios that are also lower than solar and predominately observed in metal-rich barium stars—the binary companions of AGB stars. Such an origin suggests that these large grains represent the material from high-metallicity AGB stars needed to explain the s-process nucleosynthesis variations observed in bulk meteorites. In the outflows of metal-rich, C-rich AGB stars, SiC grains are predicted to be small (≃0.2 μm); large (≃μm-sized) SiC grains can grow if the number of dust seeds is 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than the standard value of 10−13 times the number of H atoms. We therefore predict that with increasing metallicity, the number of dust seeds might decrease, resulting in the production of larger SiC grains.

Modeling Rotational Disruption of Grains and Microwave Emission from Spinning Dust in AGB Envelopes

Abstract Radio observations of some asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star envelopes show excess emission at frequencies below 100 GHz that cannot be explained by thermal dust emission (hereafter anomalous microwave emission (AME)). Moreover, AGB envelopes are a common place where gas molecules condense to form nanoparticles (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and large grains. In this paper, we study whether electric dipole emission from rapidly spinning nanoparticles can reproduce the AME observed toward AGB stars. To properly model the size distribution of nanoparticles in the AGB envelope, we take into account both the increase of nanoparticles due to rotational disruption of large grains spun up by radiative torques and the decrease of the smallest nanoparticles due to rotational disruption driven by stochastic gas collisions. We then perform detailed modeling of microwave emission from rapidly spinning nanoparticles from both C-rich and O-rich AGB envelopes using the grain-size distribution constrained by rotational disruption. We find that spinning dust emission is dominant over thermal dust emission at frequencies below 100 GHz. We attempt to fit the observational data of AME using our spinning dust model and demonstrate that spinning dust can reproduce the observed AME in six AGB stars. Finally, we discuss how microwave emission from spinning dust in AGB envelopes could be observed with high-resolution upcoming radio telescopes such the Next Generation Very Large Array and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 1. This would be a major leap for understanding AGB envelopes’ formation, evolution, and internal structures of dust. Observations would help to distinguish the carrier of AME via comparisons of C-rich and O-rich stars, because polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed in C-rich AGB stars, while silicates are formed in O-rich stars.

Infrared Properties of Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars in Our Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds

Abstract We investigate the infrared properties of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in our Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds using various infrared observational data and theoretical models. We use catalogs for the sample of 4996 AGB stars in our Galaxy and about 39,000 AGB stars in the Magellanic Clouds from the available literature. For each object in the sample, we cross-identify the 2MASS, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and Spitzer counterparts. To compare the physical properties of O- and C-rich AGB stars in our Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds, we present IR two-color diagrams (2CDs) using various photometric data. We perform radiative transfer model calculations for AGB stars using various possible parameters of central stars and dust shells. Using the dust opacity functions of amorphous silicate and carbon, the theoretical dust shell models can roughly reproduce the observations of AGB stars on various IR 2CDs. Compared with our Galaxy, we find that the Magellanic Clouds are deficient in AGB stars with thick dust shells. Compared with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is more deficient in AGB stars with thick dust shells. This could be because the Magellanic Clouds are more metal-poor than our Galaxy and the LMC is more metal-rich than the SMC. We also present the IR properties of known pulsating variables. Investigating the magnitude distributions at mid-IR (MIR) bands for AGB stars in the Magellanic Clouds, we find that the SMC is more deficient in bright AGB stars at MIR bands compared with the LMC.

Ammonia in circumstellar environment of V Cyg

The HIFI instrument on board of the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO) has been very successful in detecting molecular lines from the circumstellar envelopes around evolved stars, like massive red supergiants, Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) and post-AGB stars, as well as the planetary nebulae. Among others, ammonia have been found in the circumstellar envelopes of C-rich AGB stars in amounts that significantly exceeded the theoretical predictions for C-rich stars. Few scenarios have been proposed to resolve this problem: formation of ammonia behind the shock front and photochemical processes in the inner part of the envelope partly transparent to UV background radiation due to the clumpy structure of the gas and formation of ammonia on dust grains. Careful analysis of observations may help to put the constraints on one or another mechanism of ammonia formation. Here, we present results of the non-LTE radiative transfer modeling of ammonia transitions including the crucial process of radiative pumping via the v2=1 vibrational band (at ∼10 μm) for V Cyg. Only the ground-based ammonia transition NH3 J = 10-00 at 572.5 GHz has been observed by HIFI. Therefore, to determine the abundance of ammonia we estimate the photodissociation radius of NH3 using chemical model of the envelope consistent with the dust grain properties concluded from the spectral energy distribution.

Study of ambient environment around Asymptotic Giant Branch Carbon Star: IRAS 01142+6306

We studied dust environment such as flux, temperature, mass and inclination angle of the cavity structure around the C-rich Asymptotic giant branch star in 60 μm and 100 μm wavelengths band using Infrared Astronomical Survey. We observed the data of AGB star having IRAS name 01142+6306 corresponding to R.A.(J2000)= 01h 17m 33.504s and Dec.(J2000)= 630 22’ 4.98’. Flexible image transport system image was downloaded from Sky View Observatory; we obtained the surrounding flux density using software Aladinv2.5. The dust color average temperature and mass are found to be 25.08 K and 4.731026 kg (0.00024 Mʘ) respectively. The dust color temperature ranges from 18.76 ± 3.16 K to 33.21 ± 4.07 K. The isolated cavity like structure around AGB star has extension 45.67 parsec and contraction 17.02 parsec was observed using detailed calculation. The core region is found to be edge-on having inclination angle 79.46o. BIBECHANA 16 (2019) 31-40

Abundance Estimates in Carbon Star Envelopes

AbstractThe synthesis of dust grains mostly takes place in the circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. What are the precursor seeds of condensation nuclei and how do these particles evolve toward the micrometer sized grains that populate the interstellar medium? These are key questions of the NANOCOSMOS project. In this study, we carried out an observational study to constrain what the main gas-phase precursors of dust in C-rich AGB stars are.

Dust Structure Around Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

AbstractThis paper presents mass, temperature profile, and the variation of Planck’s function in different regions around asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. The physics of the interstellar medium (ISM) is extremely complex because the medium is very inhomogeneous and is made of regions with fairly diverse physical conditions. We studied the dust environment such as flux, temperature, mass, and inclination angle of the cavity structure around C-rich asymptotic giant branch stars in 60 μm and 100 μm wavelengths band using Infrared Astronomical Survey. We observed the data of AGB stars named IRAS 01142+6306 and IRAS 04369+4501. Flexible image transport system image was downloaded from Sky View Observatory; we obtained the surrounding flux density using software Aladin v2.5. The average dust color temperature and mass are found to be 25.08 K, 23.20 K and 4.73 × ;1026 kg (0.00024 M⊙), 2.58 × 1028 kg (0.013 M⊙), respectively. The dust color temperature ranges from 18.76 K ± 3.16 K to 33.21K ± K and 22.84 K ± 0.18 K to 24.48 K ± 0.63 K. The isolated cavity like structure around the AGB stars has an extension of 45.67 pc × 17.02 pc and 42.25 pc × 17.76 pc, respectively. The core region is found to be edge-on having an inclination angle of 79.46° and 73.99°, respectively.

Population of AGB stars in the outer Galaxy

AbstractWe present preliminary results of a study aimed at identifying and characterizing the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in the outer Galaxy using the color-color diagram (CCD) that combines the Spitzer Space Telescope and 2MASS photometry: Ks – [8.0] vs. Ks – [24]. Our initial study concentrates on a region in the outer Galactic plane around a galactic longitude l of 105°, where we identified 777 O-rich and 200 C-rich AGB star candidates.

Dust Structure around two Asymptotic Giant Stars at Latitude 32° & 40.67°

We studied the dust structures in 60μm and 100μm infrared image around the two asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. A systematic search of dust structure in the far infrared (100 μm and 60 μm) Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) survey was performed using Sky View Observatory. In order to find the possible candidate of cavity structure not yet studied, we used SIMBAD database to locate discrete sources in the region. A new relatively symmetric spherical cavity like structure (size: 1.354 pc × 0.971 pc) for candidate I and (size: 1.424 pc × 0.925pc) for candidate II at R.A.(J2000) =04h46m13.84s, Dec.(J2000) = +32°31’39.6’’ and 05h05m59.58s; +40°40’33.4’’ respectively was found at the distance of about 280 pc and 390 pc. In this present work we have calculated the dust color temperature, mass, outflow velocity, energy and size. We also studied the flux density variation and then calculated temperature and mass profile of the dust and outflow nature of AGB wind using data reduction software’s Aladin v2.5 and Aladinv8.0. Our aim was to test how outflow can be seen in this region. We have studied two cavity-like structures. The dust color temperature is found to lie in the range 21.7 K to 35.6 K for candidate I and 18.5 K to 19.3 K, with an offset of about 14 K and 0.8 K respectively. An offset of 14 K suggests that the AGB is hot in early AGB phase now in late AGB stage. We expect deviation from symmetrical outflow, i.e., AGB wind probably prefer polytropic behaviour implies bipolar type wind whereas the offset 0.8 K for candidate II suggests that the AGB is in the symmetric AGB phase, i.e., early AGB stage. The total mass of the dust in the cavity structure is found about 5.93×1025 Kg (0.00003Mʘ) for candidate I and 1.95×1027Kg (0.001 Mʘ) for candidate II. In addition we have calculated outflow energy of C-rich AGB star along ISM using outflow velocity of our candidates. It is found that the outflow velocities are 12.96 ms-1 and 10.71 ms-1 respectively. For this we have calculated the value of speed of sound (Cs) and escape velocity (uesc). In this way we have determined outflow energy, i.e., 1.173×1025J and 2.766 × 1027J respectively.The Himalayan Physics Vol. 6 & 7, April 2017 (41-47)

Do meteoritic silicon carbide grains originate from asymptotic giant branch stars of super-solar metallicity?

We compare literature data for the isotopic ratios of Zr, Sr, and Ba from analysis of single meteoritic stardust silicon carbide (SiC) grains to new predictions for the slow neutron-capture process (the s process) in metal-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. The models have initial metallicities Z=0.014 (solar) and Z=0.03 (twice-solar) and initial masses 2–4.5 M⊙, selected such as the condition C/O>1 for the formation of SiC is achieved. Because of the higher Fe abundance, the twice-solar metallicity models result in a lower number of total free neutrons released by the 13C(α,n)16O neutron source. Furthermore, the highest-mass (4–4.5 M⊙) AGB stars of twice-solar metallicity present a milder activation of the 22Ne(α,n)25Mg neutron source than their solar metallicity counterparts, due to cooler temperatures resulting from the effect of higher opacities. They also have a lower amount of the 13C neutron source than the lower-mass models, following their smaller He-rich region. The combination of these different effects allows our AGB models of twice-solar metallicity to provide a match to the SiC data without the need to consider large variations in the features of the 13C neutron source nor neutron-capture processes different from the s process. This raises the question if the AGB parent stars of meteoritic SiC grains were in fact on average of twice-solar metallicity. The heavier-than-solar Si and Ti isotopic ratios in the same grains are in qualitative agreement with an origin in stars of super-solar metallicity because of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. Further, the SiC dust mass ejected from C-rich AGB stars is predicted to significantly increase with increasing the metallicity.

Emission-line stars in M31 from the SPLASH and PHAT surveys

We present a sample of 224 stars that emit H$\alpha$ (H$\alpha$ stars) in the Andromeda galaxy (M31). The stars were selected from $\sim$ 5000 spectra, collected as part of the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar Halo survey using Keck II/DEIMOS. We used six-filter Hubble Space Telescope photometry from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury survey to classify and investigate the properties of the H$\alpha$ stars. We identified five distinct categories of H$\alpha$ star: B-type main sequence (MS) stars, `transitioning'-MS (T-MS) stars, red core He burning (RHeB) stars, non-C-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, and C-rich AGB stars. We found $\sim$ 12 per cent of B-type stars exhibit H$\alpha$ emission (Be stars). The frequency of Be to all B stars is known to vary with the metallicity of their environment. Comparing this proportion of Be stars with other environments around the Local Group, the result could indicate that M31 is more metal rich than the Milky Way. We predict that the 17 T-MS H$\alpha$ stars are Be stars evolving off the MS with fading H$\alpha$ emission. We separated RHeB from AGB H$\alpha$ stars. We conclude that the 61 RHeB and AGB stars are likely to be Long Period Variables. We found that $\sim$ 14 per cent of C-rich AGB stars (C stars) emit H$\alpha$, which is an upper limit for the ratio of C-rich Miras to C stars. This catalogue of H$\alpha$ stars will be useful to constrain stellar evolutionary models, calibrate distance indicators for intermediate age populations, and investigate the properties of M31.

On the nature of the most obscured C-rich AGB stars in the Magellanic Clouds

The stars in the Magellanic Clouds with the largest degree of obscuration are used to probe the highly uncertain physics of stars in the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase of evolution. Carbon stars in particular, provide key information on the amount of third dredge-up (TDU) and mass loss. We use two independent stellar evolution codes to test how a different treatment of the physics affects the evolution on the AGB. The output from the two codes are used to determine the rates of dust formation in the circumstellar envelope, where the method used to determine the dust is the same for each case. The stars with the largest degree of obscuration in the LMC and SMC are identified as the progeny of objects of initial mass $2.5-3~M_{\odot}$ and $\sim 1.5~M_{\odot}$, respectively. This difference in mass is motivated by the difference in the star formation histories of the two galaxies, and offers a simple explanation of the redder infrared colours of C-stars in the LMC compared to their counterparts in the SMC. The comparison with the Spitzer colours of C-rich AGB stars in the SMC shows that a minimum surface carbon mass fraction $X(C) \sim 5\times 10^{-3}$ must have been reached by stars of initial mass around $1.5~M_{\odot}$. Our results confirm the necessity of adopting low-temperature opacities in stellar evolutionary models of AGB stars. These opacities allow the stars to obtain mass-loss rates high enough ($\gtrsim 10^{-4}M_{\odot}/yr$) to produce the amount of dust needed to reproduce the Spitzer colours

AGB stars in the SMC: evolution and dust properties based onSpitzerobservations

We study the population of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) by means of full evolutionary models of stars of mass 1Msun < M < 8Msun, evolved through the thermally pulsing phase. The models also account for dust production in the circumstellar envelope. We compare Spitzer infrared colours with results from theoretical modelling. We show that ~75% of the AGB population of the SMC is composed by scarcely obscured objects, mainly stars of mass M < 2.5Msun at various metallicity, formed between 700 Myr and 5 Gyr ago; ~ 70% of these sources are oxygen--rich stars, while ~ 30% are C-stars. The sample of the most obscured AGB stars, accounting for ~ 25% of the total sample, is composed almost entirely by carbon stars. The distribution in the colour-colour ([3.6]-[4.5], [5.8]-[8.0]) and colour-magnitude ([3.6]-[8.0], [8.0]) diagrams of these C-rich objects, with a large infrared emission, traces an obscuration sequence, according to the amount of carbonaceous dust in their surroundings. The overall population of C-rich AGB stars descends from 1.5-2Msun stars of metallicity Z=0.004, formed between 700 Myr and 2 Gyr ago, and from lower metallicity objects, of mass below 1.5Msun, 2-5 Gyr old. We also identify obscured oxygen-rich stars (M ~ 4-6Msun) experiencing hot bottom burning. The differences between the AGB populations of the SMC and LMC are also commented.

Characterizing AGB stars in Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) bands

Since asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are bright and extended infrared objects, most Galactic AGB stars saturate the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) detectors and therefore the WISE magnitudes that are restored by applying point-spread-function fitting need to be verified. Statistical properties of circumstellar envelopes around AGB stars are discussed on the basis of a WISE AGB catalog verified in this way. We cross-matched an AGB star sample with the WISE All-Sky Source Catalog and the Two Mircon All Sky Survey catalog. Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) spectra of a subsample of WISE AGB stars were also exploited. The dust radiation transfer code DUSTY was used to help predict the magnitudes in the W1 and W2 bands, the two WISE bands most affected by saturation, for calibration purpose, and to provide physical parameters of the AGB sample stars for analysis. DUSTY is verified against the ISO spectra to be a good tool to reproduce the spectral energy distributions of these AGB stars. Systematic magnitude-dependent offsets have been identified in WISE W1 and W2 magnitudes of the saturated AGB stars, and empirical calibration formulas are obtained for them on the basis of 1877 (W1) and 1558 (W2) AGB stars that are successfully fit with DUSTY. According to the calibration formulae, the corrections for W1 at 5 mag and W2 at 4 mag are $-0.383$ and 0.217 mag, respectively. In total, we calibrated the W1/W2 magnitudes of 2390/2021 AGB stars. The model parameters from the DUSTY and the calibrated WISE W1 and W2 magnitudes are used to discuss the behavior of the WISE color-color diagrams of AGB stars. The model parameters also reveal that O-rich AGB stars with opaque circumstellar envelopes are much rarer than opaque C-rich AGB stars toward the anti-Galactic center direction, which we attribute to the metallicity gradient of our Galaxy.