New Insights on What, Where, and How Dust Forms in Evolved Stars

Sources of cosmic dust in our local and far universe include evolved low- and high-mass stars and core-collapse supernovae. These stellar environments, specifically the winds of stars and the material ejected by supernovae, are all characterized by high gas densities and temperatures typical of shocked regions. These conditions are necessary to the efficient formation of molecular clusters, and their growth through coalescence, coagulation and accretion to form dust grains. Recent observational data and theoretical models yield new insights of the processes that underpin dust formation. We review here the current knowledge on dust formation in stellar sources, including B[e] stars.