The interplay between AGB interiors and their outermost layers, where molecules and dust form, is a problem of high complexity. As a consequence, physical processes like mass loss, which depend on the chemistry of the circumstellar envelope, are ofte...
The study of AGB stars necessarily covers a wide range of topics, from the primary astronomical observations to their interpretation in terms of fundamental physics. All that requires proper ad hoc methodologies, among which numerical modeling of the...
We report on the observations of the circumstellar envelope of the AGB star II Lup in the near- and mid-infrared with the use of direct imaging and interferometric techniques. Our findings indicate that the circumstellar envelope is not spherically s...
Low- and intermediate-mass stars evolve into asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars near the end of their lives, losing mass through slow and massive winds. The ejected material creates a chemically-rich expanding envelope around the star, namely the ci...
Presolar grains are microscopic dust grains that formed in the stellar winds or explosions of ancient stars that died before the formation of the solar system. The majority (~90% in number) of presolar silicon carbide (SiC) grains, including types ma...
We present recent Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)-based studies of circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) around Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars and pre-Planetary Nebulae (pPNe). In only a few years of operation, ALMA is revolutionisi...
Background: Most of the stars in the Universe will end their evolution by losing their envelope during the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase, enriching the interstellar medium of galaxies with heavy elements, partially condense...
We present the results of photometric and spectroscopic observations of a poorly studied B-type supergiant with infrared excess, the hot post-AGB star IRAS 21546+4721. Based on our photometric observations in the UBVRCIC bands, we detected rapid, nig...
Most stars in the Universe that leave the main sequence in a Hubble time will end their lives evolving through the Planetary Nebula (PN) evolutionary phase. The heavy mass loss which occurs during the preceding Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase is...
Stellar dust grains are predominantly composed of mineralic, anorganic material forming in the circumstellar envelopes of oxygen-rich AGB stars. However, the initial stage of the dust synthesis, or its nucleation, is not well understood. In particula...