On the formation of carbon stars

The effect of the mass loss on the formation of carbon stars is investigated using different mass-loss formulas including one proposed in this paper, and the results of different formulas are compared with the observed properties of C stars. It is shown that the new formula reproduces well the observed luminosity distribution of AGB stars, the initial-final mass relationship, the oxygen-rich-to-carbon-rich ratio, and the total population of carbon stars. The new model is not consistent with any of the superwind mass-loss formulas where most of the envelope mass is removed near the end of the AGB. 52 refs.