| 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. |
