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Description
We have identified a new class of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC/LMC) using optical to infrared photometry, light curves, and optical spectroscopy. The strong dust production and long-period pulsations of these stars indicate that they are at the very end of their AGB evolution. Period-mass-radius relations for the fundamental-mode pulsators give median current stellar masses of 1.14M_{sun}_ in the LMC and 0.94M_{sun}_ in the SMC (with dispersions of 0.21 and 0.18M_{sun}_, respectively), and models suggest initial masses of <1.5M_{sun}_ and <1.25 M_{sun}_, respectively. This new class of stars includes both O-rich and C-rich chemistries, placing the limit where dredge-up allows carbon star production below these masses. A high fraction of the brightest among them should show S star characteristics indicative of atmospheric C/O~1, and many will form O-rich dust prior to their C-rich phase. These stars can be separated from their less-evolved counterparts by their characteristically red J-[8] colors.
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