Program: GS-2007B-Q-54

Using the Spitzer telescope a sensitive wide-field survey of the entire Large Magellanic has been done (see http://sage.stsci.edu/). We have a sample of > 250000 evolved stars identified by the SAGE project. We request time with T-ReCS for ground-based imaging and low resolution N-band spectroscopy of a selected (small) number of the brightest of these objects to better determine their properties and to aid in modeling of the infrared emission of the entire group of sources. We will use these observations in addition to follow-up Spitzer IRS observations--either ours, or from the Spitzer archive--of as many sources as possible to calibrate the relation between the broad-band colours and the mass loss rate. These T-ReCS observations will be an important part of the scientific analysis of the SAGE sources because they will sample the most extreme objects having the highest mass loss rates of all infrared sources in the LMC.