On 5/30/13 8:19 AM, Yousuf Khan wrote:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...onomy-science/


The study could upend current theories about how some stars that are
similar to our sun die and become the basic building blocks for the
next generation of stars and planets.

According to existing stellar evolution models, sunlike stars—those
that are similar in size and chemical composition to our sun—swell to
become so-called red giants in their final stage of life, before
losing their atmospheres in a spectacular bubble of gas and dust.

But now astronomers have found that not all sunlike stars follow the
same rules when it comes to the end of their life cycles, and that
some can skip the AGB phase altogether.

By tracking the sodium levels, the researchers were able to identify
which stars would undergo the AGB phase at the end of their lives.


Cool.