Degenerate thermal pulses in AGB stars
Abstract
We report on the discovery of a new kind of thermal pulse in intermediate mass AGB stars. Deep dredge-up during normal thermal pulses on the AGB leads to the formation of a long, unburnt tail to the helium profile. Eventually the tail ignites under partially degenerate conditions producing a strong shell flash with very deep subsequent dredge-up. The carbon content of the intershell convective region (X_C ~ 0.6) is substantially higher than in a normal thermal pulse (X_C ~ 0.25) and about 4 times more carbon is dredged-up than in a normal pulse.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- March 1998
- DOI:
- 10.48550/arXiv.astro-ph/9803042
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/9803042
- Bibcode:
- 1998astro.ph..3042F
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Accepted by Astrophys J