| |
 |
| Paper: |
Variable Red Giant Stars |
| Volume: |
362, The Seventh Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics |
| Page: |
234 |
| Authors: |
Wood, P.R. |
| Abstract: |
The discovery in recent years that variable red giants lie on six distinct period-luminosity sequences has revolutionized our knowledge of these stars. Four of the sequences appear to correspond to pulsation in low-order pulsation modes, one sequence corresponds to red giants with close binary companions, while the longest period sequence defies explanation. By studying variable red giants in globular clusters, where the stellar parameters luminosity, abundance and initial mass are well known, strong tests of theory and observation can be made. These tests clearly demonstrate the existence of mass loss on the red giant branch, and they show that large amplitude pulsation causes a rearrangement of the envelope structure so that linear pulsation models cannot be used to derive accurately the period for the large amplitude pulsators. |
|
|
|
|
|
