A survey of circumstellar CO emission from a sample of IRAS point sources.

The first results from a survey of circumstellar CO(1-0) emission are presented. The sources were selected from the IRAS point source catalog according to the IRAS color criteria described in van der Veen and Habing (1988). The sources have good quality fluxes at 12, 25, and 60 microns, flux densities larger than 20 Jy at 25 microns, and are situated more than 5 deg away from the Galactic plane. The survey is undertaken to study the relationship between mass loss rates, dust properties, and the evolution along the AGB. The sample consists of 787 sources and contains both oxygen and carbon-rich stars, including Mira variables, OH/IR objects, protoplanetary nebulae, planetary nebulae, and 60-micron excess sources. So far, 519 objects, situated on both the northern and the southern sky, have been observed; 163 sources were found to have circumstellar CO emission, and in 58 of these CO emission has not previously been detected.