ASYMPTOTIC GIANT BRANCH STARS NEAR THE SUN

The available red and near infrared photometry of M, S, and C stars in the Bright Star Catalogue is discussed on the basis of the "asymptotic giant branch (AGB) ledge" in the temperature-luminosity plane that was previously found to satisfy all old disk population objects. Radial velocities have been collected for all these stars and new proper motions on the FK5 system have been derived. The main results are (1) the red and near infrared indices normally used for late-type stars are interchangeable with high accuracy except for carbon stars; (2) the M-type giants (R-I>0.7 mag) may all be variable; (3) only one or two of the sample stars have halo motions and old disk abundances and these may be relics of globular clusters that produced second generation stars from old disk material accumulated in their passage through the galactic plane; (4) the AGB ledge for old disk stars is defined by M(K)=-2.00(102,65) -6.75 for (102,65) less than 0.175 mag and -0.9(102,65) -6.95 for larger values. The presence of this ledge for ages from about (2 to 12 X 10(9) yr and heavy element abundances [Fe/H], from +0.1 to -0.7 dex may result from mass loss requirements for AGB status; (5) the AGB stars at the galactic center show evidence for a heavy element abundance as high as [Fe/H] approximately +0.5 dex but the theory upon which this result is based does not satisfactorily explain the (J-H,H-K) relation for the range of metallicities from +0.5 to -0.7 dex; (6) the M-type supergiants are about 3 mag brighter than the AGB stars in the M(K), ( 102,65) plane; (7) two of the S stars with no T(c) in the sample have nearly equal space motions and may be comembers of the Arcturus group; (8) the distribution of the AGB stars in velocity space is not random; (9) the AGB stars near the Sun show a space density that increases by a factor of 35 in the temperature range from about 3800 to 3400 K; (10) the mean W velocity toward the SGP is -5 +/- 15 (sigma) km/s in the first 800 pc below the plane and - 15 +/- 31 (sigma) km/s from 800 to 1600 pc below the plane.