Asymptotic giant branch star

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An asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star is a late stage of the stellar evolution a star of initial mass less than eight times the mass of the Sun. Observationally it will appear as either a red giant or a red supergiant. Its interior structure is characterized by a central and inert core of carbon and oxygen, a shell where helium is undergoing fusion to form carbon (known as helium burning), another shell where hydrogen is undergoing fusion forming helium (known as hydrogen burning) and a very large envelope of material of composition similar to normal stars ^[1].