THE OH IR-PLANETARY NEBULA CONNECTION - SPACE DISTRIBUTION AND KINEMATICS/

We investigate the connection between AGB stars, especially OH/IR star s, and planetary nebulae (PN). The latter comprise a mixed population, with a range of spatial and kinematical properties, attributed to the age and mass of the progenitor star. We propose a classification sche me for OH/IR stars based on the separation of the OH peaks and the IRA S [12-25] colour index. It is shown that the OH/IR stars can be separa ted into classes with spatial and kinematical characteristics resembli ng those of the corresponding PN types.