000002725 001__ 2725
000002725 005__ 20160701171709.0
000002725 037__ $$aASTROimport-882
000002725 100__ $$aSargent, B.
000002725 245__ $$aSpitzer Light Curves of Dusty AGB Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
000002725 260__ $$c2014
000002725 520__ $$aAsymptotic giant branch (AGB) variable stars are, together with supernovae, the main sources of enrichment of the interstellar medium (ISM) in processed material, particularly carbon, nitrogen and heavy s-process elements. The dustiest, extreme AGB stars contribute the largest enrichment per star. We propose to measure the first light curves for 32 of the dustiest AGB variable stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using the warm Spitzer mission's IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 micron imaging for monthly imaging measurements. We know most are variable based on dual-epoch observations from the Spitzer Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE) surveys of the SMC and ground-based near-infrared observations, but we have not observed these dusty SMC stars at the mid-infrared wavelengths available to Spitzer. Only Spitzer will be able to measure the light curve of this key phase of the AGB: the dustiest and indeed final stage of the AGB. Without this information, our developing picture of AGB evolution is decidedly incomplete. The observations we propose will test the validity of AGB evolution models, and, thus, their predictions of the return of mass and nucleosynthetic products to the ISM. A value-added component to this study is that we will obtain variability information on other AGB stars that lie within the fields of view of our observations. This proposal continues the studies we have begun with our Cycle 9 program (pid 90219) and our Cycle 10 program (pid 10154). 
000002725 700__ $$a Meixner, M.
000002725 700__ $$a Riebel, D.
000002725 700__ $$a Vijh, U.
000002725 700__ $$a Hora, J.
000002725 700__ $$a Boyer, M.
000002725 700__ $$a Cook, K.
000002725 700__ $$a Groenewegen, M.
000002725 700__ $$a Whitelock, P.
000002725 700__ $$a Ita, Y.
000002725 700__ $$a Feast, M.
000002725 700__ $$a Kemper, C.
000002725 700__ $$a Marengo, M.
000002725 700__ $$a Otsuka, M.
000002725 700__ $$a Srinivasan, S.
000002725 773__ $$c11163$$pSpitzer Proposal$$y2014
000002725 85642 $$ahttp://esoads.eso.org/abs/2014sptz.prop11163S
000002725 905__ $$apublished in
000002725 980__ $$aNONREF