COCOON STARS IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

We present near-infrared (JHK) photometry of 13 of the 29 IRAS sources toward the northern LMC that were suggested as possible dust-embedded asymptotic giant branch stars by Reid, Tinney, & Mould. Two prove to be more luminous LMC red supergiants, while one appears to be a substantially more distant extra-galactic object. The remaining 10 we identify as LMC "cocoon" stars, with most having flux distributions similar to highly reddened Galactic OH/IR sources and bolometric luminosities in the range -5 less-than-or-equal-to M(bol) less-than-or-equal-to -6. Our estimates of the mass-loss rates imply lifetimes of less than 10(5) yr.