Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-IX

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2. AGB Stars: History, Structure, and Characteristics

   • Harm J. Habing, Hans Olofsson

   Pages 1-21

3. Evolution, Nucleosynthesis, and Pulsation of AGB Stars

   • John C. Lattanzio, Peter R. Wood

   Pages 23-104

4. Synthetic AGB Evolution

   • Martin A. T. Groenewegen, Paula Marigo

   Pages 105-148

5. Atmospheres of AGB Stars

   • Bengt Gustafsson, Susanne Höfner

   Pages 149-245

6. Molecule and Dust Grain Formation

   • Tom J. Millar

   Pages 247-289

7. Dynamics and Instabilities in Dusty Winds

   • Yvonne Simis, Peter Woitke

   Pages 291-323

8. Circumstellar Envelopes

   • Hans Olofsson

   Pages 325-410

9. AGB Stars as Tracers of Stellar Populations

   • Harm J. Habing, Patricia A. Whitelock

   Pages 411-460

10. AGB Stars in Binaries and Their Progeny

    • Alain Jorissen

    Pages 461-518

11. Post-AGB Stars

    • Christoffel Waelkens, Rens B. F. M. Waters

    Pages 519-553

12. Back Matter

    Pages 555-562

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This book deals with stars during a short episode before they undergo a ma­ jor, and fatal, transition. Soon the star will stop releasing nudear energy, it will become a planetary nebula for abrief but poetic moment, and then it will turn into a white dwarf and slowly fade out of sight. Just before this dramatic change begins the star has reached the highest luminosity and the largest diameter in its existence, and while it is a star detectable in galaxies beyond the Local Group, its structure contains already the inconspicuous white dwarf it will become. It is called an "asymptotic giant branch star" or "AGB star". Over the last 30 odd years AGB stars have become a topic of their own although individual members of this dass had already been studied for cen­ turies without realizing what they were. In the early evolution, so called "E-AGB"-phase, the stars are a bit bluer than, but otherwise very similar to, what are now called red giant branch stars (RGB stars). It is only in the sec­ ond half of their anyhow brief existence that AGB stars differ fundamentally from RGB stars.

• Galaxy
• astronomy
• astrophysics
• star
• stellar

From the reviews:

"AGB stars have red giants as progenitors, and are fated to become planetary nebulae and white dwarfs. This book comprises a set of papers dealing with all aspects of the physics of these stars. It is intended for a graduate study level … . the chapters which are designed to be self-standing do provide interesting discussions about theory and corroborative observations, and I think there is lot that can be gleaned … ." (Callum Potter, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, Vol. 114 (3), 2004)

• Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands

  Harm J. Habing

• Stockholm Observatory, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

  Hans Olofsson

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