Late stages of stellar evolution and their impact on spectrophotometric properties of galaxies

Abstract

The connection between AGB evolution of stellar populations and infrared vs. ultraviolet properties of the parent galaxies is reviewed relying on the updated lookout provided by population-synthesis theory. In particular, planetary-nebula events and hot horizontal-branch evolution are assessed in a unitary view to outline a plain general picture of galaxy spectrophotometric evolution. This will include a brief discussion of relevant phenomena such as the "UV upturn" in ellipticals and the stellar mass loss properties along the galaxy morphological sequence.