Cold Dust in Three Massive Evolved Stars in the LMC

TL;DR

This study investigates cold dust in three massive evolved stars in the LMC using Herschel data, modeling their spectral energy distributions to assess dust contributions and mass-loss rates.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the presence of cold dust in evolved stars and evaluates their role in dust production in the galaxy.

Findings

High mass-loss rates up to 10^-3 solar masses/year.

Far-IR excesses linked to ISM and star-forming regions.

Cold dust may not significantly contribute to dust mass in evolved stars.

Abstract

Massive evolved stars can produce large amounts of dust, and far-infrared (IR) data are essential for determining the contribution of cold dust to the total dust mass. Using Herschel, we search for cold dust in three very dusty massive evolved stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud: R71 is a Luminous Blue Variable, HD36402 is a Wolf-Rayet triple system, and IRAS05280-6910 is a red supergiant. We model the spectral energy distributions using radiative transfer codes and find that these three stars have mass-loss rates up to 10^-3 solar masses/year, suggesting that high-mass stars are important contributors to the life-cycle of dust. We found far-IR excesses in two objects, but these excesses appear to be associated with ISM and star-forming regions. Cold dust (T < 100 K) may thus not be an important contributor to the dust masses of evolved stars.