Dying Stars, Mass Loss and the Creation of the Elements

This project aims to observationally estimate the mass loss rates and the surface chemical enrichments exhibited by low and intermediate-mass stars during their final evolutionary stages. The study has become possible because of new telescopes and instruments just arrived or imminently to arrive. Another part of the project is to use the observations to calibrate theoretical models for the evolution of dying stars. Such models are required for an understanding of the chemical enrichment of the universe from the time of first star formation to the present.