Article contents
The neutral envelopes around AGB and post-AGB objects
Circumstellar Molecules
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 May 2016
Abstract
The circumstellar gas/dust envelopes of stars on and beyond the asymptotic giant branch harbor an impressive number of different molecular species and their isotopic variants. Some of these molecules are of photospheric origin, but the majority have been produced through various chemical processes in the envelope. This chemistry depends primarily on the chemical composition of the gas (i.e., C/O<1 or >1), but the conditions also change as the central star evolves. In this review we present circumstellar molecular abundance and isotope ratio estimates, and discuss how they can be used in the study of the late evolution of stars, which in extreme cases may become heavily obscured.
- Type
- Stars and Circumstellar Envelopes
- Information
- Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 178: Molecules in Astrophysics: Probes and Processes , 1997 , pp. 457 - 468
- Copyright
- Copyright © Kluwer 1997
References
- 8
- Cited by