2002AJ....123.2772S

Using 766 compact objects found in a systematic survey of the Galactic plane in the 1612 MHz masing OH line, new light is cast on the IR properties of evolved stars on the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and beyond. The usual mid-IR selection criteria for post-AGB, based on IRAS colors, largely fail to distinguish early post-AGB stages. A two-color diagram from much narrower band MSX flux densities, with bimodal distributions, provides a better tool for doing this. Four mutually consistent selection criteria for OH-masing red proto-planetary nebulae are given, as well as two for early post-AGB masers and one for all post-AGB masers including the earliest ones. All these criteria miss a group of blue, high-outflow post-AGB sources with 60 µm excess; these will be discussed in detail in Paper II. The majority of post-AGB sources show regular double-peaked spectra in the OH 1612 MHz line, with fairly low outflow velocities, although the fractions of single peaks and irregular spectra may vary with age and mass. The OH flux density shows a fairly regular relation with the stellar flux and the envelope optical depth, with the maser efficiency increasing with IRAS color R₂₁. The OH flux density is linearly correlated with the 60 µm flux density.