The origin of the extremely metal-poor post-AGB stars

Certain A-F supergiants show almost solar photospheric abundances of C, N, O, S, and Zn, while Fe, Mg, Ca, Si, Cr, and other elements are more than two orders of magnitude below solar. It is suggested that the present photosphere was originally solar in composition; the missing elements were incorporated into dust grains that were separated from the atmosphere. The heavy-element-depleted gas comprises the present photosphere. There are two possible mechanisms by which this process might take place: capture by the presently visible star of the depleted gas from a binary companions, or the rapid termination of a vigorous stellar wind in a single star, so that the grains are blown outward through the expanding envelope