Estimation of the dust mass-loss rates from AGB stars in the Fornax and Sagittarius dwarf Spheroidal galaxies

Abstract

To study the effect of metallicity on the mass-loss of AGB stars, we have conducted mid-infrared photometric measurements of AGB stars in the Sagittarius and Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies ([Fe/H]=-1.1 and -1.3) with the 10-micron camera of VISIR at the VLT. These observations combined with previous near-infrared photometric measurements allow us to estimate mass-loss rates in these galaxies. We show here that the observed AGB display dust-driven mass-loss. Dust mass-loss rate are found to be in the range 0.2$\times10^{-10}-1.3\times10^{-8}$ M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$ for the observed AGB stars in SgrD and around 5$\times10^{-11}$ M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$ for the observed star in Fornax.