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. J. ; Marengo, M. ; McDonald, I. ; Meixner, M. ; Skillman, E. D. ; Sloan, G. C. ; Sonneborn, G. ; van Loon, J. T. ; Zijlstra, A.

published in American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts, 225, pp. 342.24 (2015)

Abstract: The survey of DUST in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer (DUSTiNGS) produced 3.6 and 4.5 µm images of 50 dwarf galaxies with a wide range in metallicity (-2.7 [Fe/H] -1 dex) to search for dust-producing stars. Dual-epoch imaging enabled us to identify >500 variable, dust-producing Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, including 12 at [Fe/H] -2 dex. We present the pulsation properties and estimate the dust production rates of these AGB candidates and find that these AGB stars are able to produce large amounts of dust at any metallicity. Our findings suggest that AGB stars contribute significantly to the total dust budgets of metal-poor, high-redshift galaxies.

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