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 PACSand SPIRE imaging observations to characterize their dusty disks. Weexpect that Herschel observations of Phoenix Giant disks will establisha benchmark characterization of the outer disk regions of this recentlydiscovered class of first-ascent giant stars.
Publication
Instrument
PACS_PacsPhoto_largeScan, SPIRE_SpirePhoto_small
Temporal Coverage
2011-01-09T10:35:37Z/2012-06-25T15:17:52Z
Version
SPG v14.2.0
Mission Description
Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009! It is the fourth cornerstone mission in the ESA science programme. With a 3.5 m Cassegrain telescope it is the largest space telescope ever launched. It is performing photometry and spectroscopy in approximately the 55-671 µm range, bridging the gap between earlier infrared space missions and groundbased facilities.
European Space Agency, melis et al., 2012, 'Herschel characterization of the new class of dusty first-ascent giant stars', SPG v14.2.0, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-4cwxwdk
