Stellar Evolution
 Research on stellar evolution at the Instituut voor Sterrenkude focuses on stars
with a dusty circumstellar environment. These include young stellar objects, where the
circumstellar material is a relic of the star formation process, and evolved objects
where the circumstellar dust was ejected during previous (or sometimes current) heavy
mass-loss episodes. This research is embedded in an already long-standing and
fruitful collaboration with Dutch colleagues mainly from Amsterdam and Groningen
but also Leiden and Utrecht.
Since the ultraviolet and optical radiation of the stellar photosphere
is partly or sometimes almost completely extinct by the circumstellar dust around
these objects, they are typical infrared (IR) sources. The optically bright ones can,
however, also be studied in the ultraviolet and optical and present exceptional
circumstances
where photospheric and circumstellar physical and chemical conditions can be studied
over
a large spectral interval. A multispectral approach is therefore strongly emphasized in
our observational studies for which we use state-of-the art large telescopes and instruments
both ground-based and space-born. For detailed monitoring programmes we use the Mercator
telescope of the institute and its twin telescope at ESO operated by our Swiss collaborators.
The research on the institute is versatile and includes detailed photospherical
chemical studies based on optical high-resolution spectra;
detailed modeling of cool stellar photosperes; modeling
of the spectral energy distribution; monitoring of variable phenomena;
high spatial resolution observations of the circumstellar
environment with interferometry; AGB evolution modelling; Galactic structure as traced by AGB stars;
influence of binarity on stellar evolution and detailed study of the chemical and
physical properties of circumstellar molecules and dust grains.
Christoffel Waelkens
Hans Van Winckel
Rens Waters
Joris Blommaert
Martin Groenewegen
Bram Acke
Leen Decin
Sacha Hony
Elena Puga Antolín
Maarten Reyniers
Pierre Royer
Bart Vandenbussche
Tijl Verhoelst
Eva Bauwens
Sofie Dehaes
Pieter Deroo
Clio Gielen
Djazia Ladjal
Evelien Vanhollebeke
Kadri Yakut
The Mercator Telescope at La Palma
The Euler Telescope / CORALIE spectrograph at La Silla, Chile
The European Southern Observatory (ESO)
ESA's Infrared Space Observatory
ESA's Herschel Space Observatory
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