Properties of the Variation of the Infrared Emission of OH/IR Stars III. The M Band Light Curves

Abstract

To study properties of the pulsation in the infrared emission for long period variables, we have collected and analyzed the infrared observational data at M band for 12 OH/IR stars. We present the light curves using the data that cover about 30 years including recent observations of ISO and Spitzer. We use Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm to determine the pulsation periods and amplitudes and compare them with previous results of infrared and radio investigations. Generally, the newly determined pulsation parameters show much less errors because of the larger database. We find that the relationship between the pulsation period and amplitudes at M band is fairly well fitted with a simple linear equation in a wide period range. For OH 42.3-0.1, we find some evidences that the object could be a post-asymptotic giant branch star.

Keywords

• stars: asymptotic giant branch and post-asymptotic giant branch
• infrared: stars
• stars: oscillations
• circumstellar matter
• dust: extinction