Molecules and dust around AGB stars

很多人都听过这句流行语：“我们是由星尘组成的”。事实上，在一个真正的宇宙生命周期中，恒星、行星和它们的居民是从早已逝去的恒星的灰烬中诞生的，但我们自己的化学成分证明了它们的存在。事实上，我们现在知道，所有的元素，如碳和氧，都是在恒星内部产生的。然而，这种星尘到底是如何形成的，以及它的确切化学成分是什么，还不是很清楚。我建议在这里研究那些正在死亡前将其化学元素转化为星尘的恒星。然而，为了更好地理解尘埃形成的过程，我们还需要看看尘埃形成之前发生了什么。也就是说，我们需要研究导致分子形成的过程。这些细小的实体很容易识别，可以作为强大的、遥远的测量探测器使用，这样我们就可以获得了解星尘形成过程所需的所有信息。

Many people have heard the popular catchphrase "We are made of stardust". Indeed, in a truly cosmic lifecycle, stars, planets and their inhabitants are born from the ashes of stars that have long gone, but whose existence is evidenced by our very own chemical composition. Indeed, we now know that all elements like carbon and oxygen are produced in the interior of stars. Exactly how this stardust is formed however, and what its exact chemical composition is, is not well known.I propose here to study those stars that are now in the process of converting their chemical elements into stardust right before they die. However, to better understand the process of dust formation, we will also need to look at what happens right before the dust is formed. That is, we need to study the processes leading to the formation of molecules. Those small entities are easily identified, and can be used as powerful, distant measuring probes so that we can obtain all the information we need to understand the formation process of stardust.