Science with the ngVLA: Planetary Nebulae
Abstract
Planetary nebulae (PNe) represent the near endpoints of evolution for stars of initial mass 1-8 , wherein the envelope of an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star becomes photodissociated and ionized by high-energy radiation from a newly emerging white dwarf that was the progenitor star's core. It is increasingly evident that most PNe are descended from binary systems. PNe hence provide unique insight into a diverse range of astrophysical phenomena, including the influence of companion stars on the late stages of stellar evolution; stellar wind interactions and shocks; the physics and chemistry of photoionized plasmas and photon-dominated regions (PDRs); and enrichment of the ISM in the products of intermediate-mass stellar nucleosynthesis. We describe specific examples of the potential impact of the ngVLA in each of these areas.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1810.06712,
title = {Science with the ngVLA: Planetary Nebulae},
author = {Joel H. Kastner and Albert Ziljstra and Bruce Balick and Raghvendra Sahai},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1810.06712},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
8 pages, 2 figures; to be published in the ASP Monograph Series, "Science with a Next-Generation VLA", ed. E. J. Murphy (ASP, San Francisco, CA)