A super-AGB star is a star with a mass intermediate between those that end their lives as a

white dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

and those that end with a

core collapse supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or whe ...

, and properties intermediate between

asymptotic giant branch The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) is a region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram populated by evolved cool luminous stars. This is a period of stellar evolution undertaken by all low- to intermediate-mass stars (about 0.5 to 8 solar masses) lat ...

(AGB) stars and

red supergiant Red supergiants (RSGs) are stars with a supergiant luminosity class ( Yerkes class I) of spectral type K or M. They are the largest stars in the universe in terms of volume, although they are not the most massive or luminous. Betelgeuse and Anta ...

s. They have initial masses of in stellar-evolutionary models, but have exhausted their core hydrogen and helium, left the main sequence, and expanded to become large, cool, and luminous.

HR diagram

Super-AGB stars occupy the top-right of the

Hertzsprung–Russell diagram The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, abbreviated as H–R diagram, HR diagram or HRD, is a scatter plot of stars showing the relationship between the stars' absolute magnitudes or luminosity, luminosities versus their stellar classifications or eff ...

(HR diagram), and have cool temperatures between 3,000 and , which is similar to normal

AGB star The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) is a region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram populated by evolved cool luminous stars. This is a period of stellar evolution undertaken by all low- to intermediate-mass stars (about 0.5 to 8 solar masses) late ...

s and

red supergiant star Red supergiants (RSGs) are stars with a supergiant luminosity class (Stellar classification#Yerkes spectral classification, Yerkes class I) of spectral classification, spectral type K or M. They are the List of largest stars, largest stars in the ...

s (RSG stars). These cool temperatures allow molecules to form in their photospheres and atmospheres. Super-AGB stars emit most of their light in the infra-red spectrum because of their extremely cool temperatures.

The Chandrasekhar limit and their life

A super-AGB star's core may grow to (or past) the Chandrasekhar mass because of continued

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

(H) and

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

(He) shell burning, ending as core-collapse

supernovae A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a ...

. The most massive super-AGB stars (at around ) are theorized to end in

electron capture supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

e. The error in this determination due to uncertainties in the third

dredge-up A dredge-up is any one of several stages in the evolution of some stars. By definition, during a ''dredge-up'', a convection zone extends all the way from the star's surface down to the layers of material that have undergone fusion. Consequently, th ...

efficiency and AGB mass-loss rate could lead to about a doubling of the number of electron-capture supernovae, which also supports the theory that these stars make up 66% of the supernovae detected by satellites. These stars are at a similar stage in life to red giant stars, such as

Aldebaran Aldebaran (Arabic: “The Follower”, "الدبران") is the brightest star in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. It has the Bayer designation α Tauri, which is Latinized to Alpha Tauri and abbreviated Alpha Tau or α Tau. Aldebar ...

Mira Mira (), designation Omicron Ceti (ο Ceti, abbreviated Omicron Cet, ο Cet), is a red-giant star estimated to be 200–400 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cetus. ο Ceti is a binary stellar system, consisting of a varia ...

, and

Chi Cygni Chi Cygni (Latinised from χ Cygni) is a Mira variable star in the constellation Cygnus, and also an S-type star. It is around 500 light years away. χ Cygni is an asymptotic giant branch star, a very cool and luminous red giant nearin ...

, and are at a stage where they start to brighten, and their brightness tends to vary, along with their size and temperature. These stars represent a transition to the more massive supergiant stars that undergo full fusion of elements heavier than helium. During the

triple-alpha process The triple-alpha process is a set of nuclear fusion reactions by which three helium-4 nuclei (alpha particles) are transformed into carbon. Triple-alpha process in stars Helium accumulates in the cores of stars as a result of the proton–pro ...

, some elements heavier than carbon are also produced: mostly oxygen, but also some magnesium, neon, and even heavier elements, gaining an

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...

(ONe) core. Super-AGB stars develop partially degenerate carbon–oxygen cores that are large enough to ignite carbon in a flash analogous to the earlier

helium flash A helium flash is a very brief thermal runaway nuclear fusion of large quantities of helium into carbon through the triple-alpha process in the core of low mass stars (between 0.8 solar masses () and 2.0 ) during their red giant phase (the Sun is ...

. The second dredge-up is very strong in this mass range and that keeps the core size below the level required for burning of neon as occurs in higher-mass supergiants.

References

''attribution'' contains text copied from

Asymptotic giant branch The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) is a region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram populated by evolved cool luminous stars. This is a period of stellar evolution undertaken by all low- to intermediate-mass stars (about 0.5 to 8 solar masses) lat ...

available under CC-BY-SA-3.0 {{Star Asymptotic-giant-branch stars Stellar evolution