G. C. Sloan (Cornell), K. E. Kraemer (AFRL), M. Matsuura (Univ. of Manchester), S. D. Price (AFRL), P. R. Wood (Mt. Stromlo Obs.), M. P. Egan (AFRL)
We present 5-36 micron spectra of carbon stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The spectra were obtained using the low-resolution mode of the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The lower metallicity in the SMC results in carbon stars of lower mass and lower rates of dust production compared to the Milky Way. These differences between the SMC and Galactic sample provide us with an opportunity to explore the effects of metallicity on the strength of the molecular absorption bands and the strength and shape of the dust emission from amorphous carbon, SiC, and MgS. We compare our new IRS spectra to archival spectra of Galactic carbon stars from the Low-Resolution Spectrometer on IRAS and the Short Wavelength Spectrometer on ISO.
This work is based in part on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under NASA contract 1407. Support for this work was provided by NASA.
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #2
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.