2003MNRAS.341.1205V

LI-LMC 1813 is a dust-enshrouded asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star, located in the small open cluster KMHK 1603 near the rim of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Optical and infrared photometry between 0.5 and 60 µm is obtained to constrain the spectral energy distribution of LI-LMC 1813. Near-infrared spectra unambiguously show it to be a carbon star. Modelling with the radiation transfer code dusty yields accurate values for the bolometric luminosity, L = 1.5x10⁴ L_☉, and mass-loss rate, {formmu1}. On the basis of colour-magnitude diagrams, the age of the cluster KMHK 1603 is estimated to be t = 0.9-1.0 Gyr, which implies a zero-age main-sequence mass for LI-LMC 1813 of M_ZAMS=2.2±0.1 M_☉. This makes LI-LMC 1813 arguably the object with the most accurately and reliably determined (circum)stellar parameters amongst all carbon stars in the superwind phase.