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Evolved Star Mass Loss in the Galactic Bulge from Multi-Wavelength Surveys

Published onJun 01, 2020
Evolved Star Mass Loss in the Galactic Bulge from Multi-Wavelength Surveys

We are investigating the relationship between evolved star mass loss and host galaxy metallicity. We aim to identify evolved stars, including asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and red supergiant (RSG) stars, in the Galactic bulge and determine the total mass loss rates and average mass loss rates from these stars. We will then compare these results to those obtained for the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud. To this end, we are constructing spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for our candidate AGB and RSG stars using observations from various optical and infrared surveys. We began with a sample of Galactic objects from the GLIMPSE surveys already identified in the published literature as having intrinsically red color and identified additional candidates. Our sample currently totals just over 20,000 sources. AGB stars can be variable, so we are matching the sources from the GLIMPSE surveys to various optical and infrared surveys in order to characterize the variability across the SED of each source. From this, we will determine the average SED over multiple epochs for each source. We will then correct each SED for extinction and model the extinction-corrected SED using models from the Grid of Red supergiant and Asymptotic giant branch ModelS (GRAMS) of dust-enshrouded evolved stars. We will differentiate young stellar objects (YSOs) from evolved (AGB and RSG) stars in our sample using published YSO models. After separating YSOs from evolved stars, we will focus on the Galactic bulge and determine the total mass loss rate from evolved stars in the Bulge. This work has been supported by NASA ADAP grant 80NSSC17K0057.

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