NASA NTRS1989
Conventional theory explains the origin of carbon stars as due to dredge up of carbon enriched material from the stellar core during helium flash events late in the life of solar mass AGB stars. This relatively efficient process, however, seems to produce a larger C/O ratio than observed (Lambert et al., 1987). A secondary effect which could contribute to the appearance of carbon stars, is the selective removal of oxygen from the atmosphere by radiative force expulsion of oxygen-rich dust grains. Calculations for this scenario are presented, which evaluate the degree of momentum coupling between the grains and gas under the thermodynamical conditions of AGB star atmospheres.