Low- and intermediate-mass stars develop slow and massive stellar winds when they reach the end of their lives. Investigating the mass-loss phenomenon on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) is crucial in gaining a better understanding of late stellar evolution, as well as of the galactic chemical evolution, as AGB stars contribute significantly to the enrichment of the interstellar medium. DEATHSTAR is a large project aimed at improving the accuracy of stellar wind-parameter measurements. Constraining the size of the CO-emitting circumstellar envelope is the first step of the project, by mapping the envelopes in CO J=2–1 and 3–2 lines with the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). The first published DEATHSTAR sample consists of 69 nearby (<1 kpc) AGB stars of the three chemical types. In this video, I present the results from our initial analysis and the current status of the DEATHSTAR project.

Pitch Talk presented at IAU Symposium 366: The Origin of Outflows in Evolved Stars (iaus366.be), Virtual Meeting, 1-5 November 2021.