Description |
We have recently discovered a new class of first-ascent giants surrounded by substantial dusty and gaseous disks that are sometimes accreting onto the central star. These old stars, who are nearing the end of their lives, are experiencing a rebirth into characteristics typically associated with newborn stars. As such we dub them ..Phoenix Giants.. As a critical step to understanding these unique systems and the origin of their circumstellar material, we propose Herschel PACS and SPIRE imaging observations to characterize their dusty disks. We expect that Herschel observations of Phoenix Giant disks will establish a benchmark characterization of the outer disk regions of this recently discovered class of first-ascent giant stars. |