Variable Stars and the Asymptotic Giant Branch: Stellar Pulsations, Dust Production, and Mass Loss

Volume 40 number 1 (2012)

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Angela K. Speck

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211; speckan@missouri.edu

Abstract

Low- and intermediate-mass stars (1-8 M⊙; LIMS) are very important contributors of material to the interstellar medium (ISM), and yet the mechanisms by which this matter is expelled remain a mystery. In this paper we discuss how interferometry plays a role in studying the interplay between pulsation, mass loss, dust formation and evolution of these LIMS.