Mira variables, mass loss, and the fate of red giant stars

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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M Stars, Mira Variables, Red Giant Stars, Stellar Luminosity, Stellar Mass Ejection, Variable Stars, Hydrogen Clouds, Planetary Nebulae, Stellar Envelopes, Stellar Evolution, Stellar Mass, Stellar Winds, Supernovae, White Dwarf Stars

Scientific paper

A relation between number density and period is obtained from observational data for Mira variables close to the galactic plane in the solar neighborhood, and this relation is reproduced by combining pulsation, evolution, and mass-loss theories. The resulting model is used to predict some properties of the Mira variables and their offspring. The period distribution is shown to be incompatible with the assumptions that most low-mass stars pass through a typical Mira phase before becoming planetary nebulae and that stellar-wind mass loss is negligible. The existence of high-velocity and halo Miras with periods not exceeding about 300 days is employed to restrict the stellar-wind mass-loss rate to between one-quarter and one-half the rate given by Reimers (1975). Mira variability is found to occur in a wedge-shaped region on the (mass, log luminosity) plane whose position indicates masses for Mira variables in the range from 0.6 to 2 solar masses and values of log L (normalized to the solar luminosity) of between 3.7 and 4.3. Remanent white-dwarf and planetary-nebula masses are derived as a function of initial stellar mass on the assumption that the high-luminosity edge of the Mira instability strip coincides with ejection of the hydrogen-rich envelope.

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