Birth and early evolution of a planetary nebula

Matthew Bobrowsky (), Kailash C. Sahu, M. Parthasarathy and Pedro García-Lario
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Matthew Bobrowsky: Orbital Sciences Corporation
Kailash C. Sahu: Space Telescope Science Institute
M. Parthasarathy: Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Pedro García-Lario: ISO Science Operations Centre, Villafranca del Castillo

Nature, 1998, vol. 392, issue 6675, 469-471

Abstract: Abstract The final expulsion of gas by a star as it forms a planetary nebula — the ionized shell of gas often observed surrounding a young white dwarf — is one of the most poorly understood stages of stellar evolution1,2. Such nebulae form extremely rapidly (about 100 years for the ionization) and so the formation process is inherently difficult to observe. Particularly puzzling is how a spherical star can produce a highly asymmetric nebula with collimated outflows. Here we report optical observations of the Stingray nebula3,4, which has become an ionized planetary nebula within the past few decades5. We find that the collimated outflows are already evident, and we have identified the nebular structure that focuses the outflows. We have also found a companion star, reinforcing previous suspicions that binary companions play an important role in shaping planetary nebulae and changing the direction of successive outflows6.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/33092

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