A chemically peculiar post-AGB star in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

Post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (post-AGB) stars bear signatures of the entire chemical and morphological changes that occur prior to and during the AGB phase of evolution. These objects also provide vital clues on the ultimate fate of the star. Detailed chemical abundance studies of some of these objects have shown that they are chemically much more diverse than anticipated. As expected, some are the most s-process enriched objects known to date while others are not s-process enriched. Our recent study has revealed a star in the Small Magellanic Cloud, J005252.87-722842.9, which displays a peculiar chemical signature that does not correspond to the expected chemical diversity observed in these objects. This unique object reveals the possibility of a new stellar evolutionary channel where the star evolves without any third dredge-up episodes or during its evolution becomes devoid of its nucleosynthetic history. Show more