The dusty envelopes of asymptotic giant branch stars with ultraviolet excesses

¹ Centro de Astrobiología, CSIC-INTA, Camino bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
² Escuela de Doctorado UAM, Centro de Estudios de Posgrado, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
³ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA

^★ Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 20 February 2026
Accepted: 19 March 2026

Abstract

Context. Roughly spherical envelopes around asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars transform into the highly asymmetric morphologies observed in planetary nebulae. The complex processes involved in this metamorphosis are not yet completely understood. However, binarity emerges as a strong shaping factor, although the identification of binary companions in AGB stars is observationally challenging. The presence of ultraviolet (UV) excesses in AGB stars has been suggested as a potential indicator of binarity.

Aims. In a first study, we characterised the properties of the gas component in the circumstellar envelopes surrounding a sample of 29 AGB stars with UV excesses. Now, we intend to complement this information with an analysis of the dust component and compare the estimated parameters with those previously inferred from larger samples of AGB stars.

Methods. We modelled the spectral energy distributions of the sample using dust radiative transfer models. In some cases, we complemented the analysis with Herschel/PACS radial surface brightness profiles.

Results. We derived mass-loss rates and gas-to-dust ratios, which are in the typical ranges for AGB stars. We found that the stellar and mass-loss parameters follow similar trends to those presented in the literature. There is an anticorrelation between the gas-to-dust ratio and the UV emission, although it is weaker than its correlations with pulsation and mass-loss. We also estimated the dust attenuation produced by the dust at UV wavelengths and describe its effects on the intrinsic UV emission.

Conclusions. Stellar and mass-loss parameters of UV emitting AGB stars follow similar trends as found for larger samples of AGB stars. High-angular-resolution observations are required to explore the dust-forming regions and identify the presence of stellar companions. Circumstellar dust attenuation might play a dominant role in the observed UV emission and needs to be taken into account to estimate the intrinsic UV emission.