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| Paper: |
Determining the Forsterite Abundance of the Dust around AGB Stars |
| Volume: |
445, Why Galaxies Care about AGB Stars II: Shining Examples and Common Inhabitants |
| Page: |
235 |
| Authors: |
de Vries, B. L.; Min, M.; Waters, L. B. F. M.; Blommaert, J.; Kemper, F. |
| Abstract: |
We present a diagnostic tool to determine the forsterite abundance
of the dust ejected by AGB stars. Our method is based on a comparison
between the observed strength of spectral bands of forsterite and model
calculations. We show that the 11.3μm forsterite band is a robust
indicator of the forsterite abundance of the current mass-loss period
for AGB stars with an optically thick dust shell. The 33.6 μm band
of forsterite is sensitive to changes in the density and the geometry
of the emitting dust shell, and so is a less robust indicator. We apply
this method to six high mass-loss rate AGB stars, showing that AGB
stars can have forsterite abundances of 12% by mass and higher, which
is more than the previously found maximum abundance of 5%. |
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