A Fresh Look at AGB stars in Galactic Open Clusters with Gaia: Impact on Stellar Models and the Initial-Final Mass Relation

Understand

Benefiting from the GAIA second and early third releases of photometric and astrometric data we examine the population of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars that appear in the fields of intermediate-age and young open star clusters.

• We identify 49 AGB star candidates, brighter than the tip of the red giant branch, with a good-to-high cluster membership probability.
• Among them we find 19 TP-AGB stars with known spectral type: 4 M stars, 3 MS/S stars and 12 C stars.
• By combining observations, stellar models, and radiative transfer calculations that include the effect of circumstellar dust, we characterize each star in terms of initial mass, luminosity, mass-loss rate, core mass, period and mode of pulsation.