Home > Science Articles > Non-refereed Articles > DUST in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer (DUSTiNGS): An Infrared Census of Extreme AGB Stars in Nearby Dwarf Galaxies |
Boyer, M. L. ; McQuinn, K. B. W. ; Barmby, P. ; Bonanos, A. Z. ; Gehrz, R. D. ; Gordon, K. D. ; Groenewegen, M. A. T. ; Lagadec, E. ; Lennon, D. ; Marengo, M. ; Meixner, M. ; Skillman, E. ; Sloan, G. C. ; Sonneborn, G. ; van Loon, J. T. ; Zijlstra, A. A.
published in Why Galaxies Care about AGB Stars III: A Closer Look in Space and Time, 497, pp. 453 (2015)
Abstract: Nearby resolved dwarf galaxies provide excellent opportunities for studying the dust-producing late stages of stellar evolution. DUSTiNGS (DUST in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer) is a 3.6- and 4.5-µm imaging survey of 50 dwarf galaxies within 1.5 Mpc. We obtained observations in two epochs, separated by approximately 6 months, to assist in identifying long-period thermally-pulsing (TP-)AGB stars. We find more than 500 dusty variable TP-AGB stars (sometimes called extreme AGB stars). The majority of these stars are new discoveries, including 12 with [Fe/H]-2 dex. These stars are likely in the superwind phase and thus dominate the current AGB dust input to the interstellar medium of their respective galaxies.
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Royal Observatory of Belgium > Astronomy & Astrophysics
Science Articles > Non-refereed Articles