Author:

Keywords:

Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Astronomy & Astrophysics, ASYMPTOTIC GIANT BRANCH, RED SUPERGIANTS, OH 26.5+0.6, AGB STARS, DUST, EVOLUTION, ENVELOPES, SUPERWIND, YIELDS, WINDS, AEROSOL - 646758;info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/646758, 5101 Astronomical sciences, 5107 Particle and high energy physics, 5109 Space sciences

Abstract:

© 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. In 1981, the idea of a superwind that ends the life of cool giant stars was proposed 1 . Extreme oxygen-rich giants, OH/IR stars, develop superwinds with the highest mass-loss rates known so far, up to a few 10 −4 solar masses (M ⊙ ) per year 2–12 , informing our understanding of the maximum mass-loss rate achieved during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. A conundrum arises whereby the observationally determined duration of the superwind phase is too short for these stars to lose enough mass to become white dwarfs 2–4,6,8–10 . Here we report on the detection of spiral structures around two cornerstone extreme OH/IR stars, OH 26.5 + 0.6 and OH 30.1 − 0.7, thereby identifying them as wide binary systems. Hydrodynamic simulations show that the companion’s gravitational attraction creates an equatorial density enhancement mimicking a short, extreme superwind phase, thereby solving the decades-old conundrum. This discovery restricts the maximum mass-loss rate of AGB stars to around the single-scattering radiation pressure limit of a few 10 −5 M ⊙ yr −1 . This has crucial implications for nucleosynthetic yields, planet survival and the wind-driving mechanism.