Luminosities and mass‐loss rates of carbon stars in the Magellanic Clouds (original) (raw)

2007, Monthly Notices of …

Dust radiative transfer models are presented for 60 carbon stars in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) for which 5-35 µm Spitzer infrared spectrograph (IRS) spectra and quasi-simultaneous ground-based JHKL photometry are available. From the modelling, the luminosity and massloss rate are derived (under the assumption of a fixed expansion velocity and dust-to-gas ratio), and the ratio of silicon carbide (SiC) to amorphous carbon (AMC) dust is also derived. This ratio is smaller than observed in Galactic carbon stars, as has been noted before. Light curves for 36 objects can be retrieved from the massive compact halo object (MACHO) and optical gravitational lensing experiment (OGLE) data bases, and periods can be derived for all but two of these. Including data from the literature, periods are available for 53 stars.