(Sub)stellar companions shape the winds of evolved stars.

Binary interactions dominate the evolution of massive stars, but their role is less clear for low- and intermediate-mass stars. The evolution of a spherical wind from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star into a nonspherical planetary nebula (PN) could be due to binary interactions. We observed a sample of AGB stars with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and found that their winds exhibit distinct nonspherical geometries with morphological similarities to planetary nebulae (PNe).

Dynamics, temperature, chemistry, and dust: Ingredients for a self-consistent AGB wind.

Understanding Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars is important as they play a vital role in the chemical life cycle of galaxies. AGB stars are in a phase of their life time where they have almost ran out of fuel and are losing vast amounts of material to their surroundings, via stellar winds. As this is an evolutionary phase of low mass stars, almost all stars go through this phase making them one of the main contributors to the chemical enrichment of galaxies.