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Paper: IRS Spectra of Unusual Evolved Objects in the Magellanic Clouds
Volume: 412, The Biggest, Baddest, Coolest Stars
Page: 239
Authors: Kraemer, K.E.; Sloan, G.C.; Bernard-Salas, J.; Wood, P.R.; Price, S.D.; Zijlstra, A.A.; Egan, M.P.; Houck, J.R.
Abstract: We present mid-infrared spectra from evolved sources in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC) observed with the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. Many targets in the project were selected based on their mid-infrared colors, with little additional information available, and in this sample, we observed more carbon stars than originally anticipated. We also observed several unusual objects. Two sources in the SMC have nearly featureless mid-IR spectra and are thought to be R Coronae Borealis candidates, only a handful of which are known in the SMC. We have identified a post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) object in the SMC which shows a rare combination of spectral features, and in the LMC we find that an object typically described as a planetary nebula is actually still in the short-lived, post-AGB phase of stellar evolution. We describe a newly detected feature at ~14 μm in oxygen-rich sources often associated with strong silicate emission or absorption.
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