Related papers: Molecular studies of Planetary Nebulae
Carbon-rich evolved stars from the asymptotic giant branch to the planetary nebula phase are characterized by a rich and complex carbon chemistry in their circumstellar envelopes. A peculiar object is the preplanetary nebula SMP LMC 11,…
Considerable effort has been applied towards understanding the precise shaping mechanisms responsible for the diverse range of morphologies exhibited by planetary nebulae (PNe). A binary companion is increasingly gaining support as a…
The search for complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) has revealed species of ever greater complexity. This search relies on the progress made in the laboratory to characterize their rotational spectra. Our understanding…
Planetary nebulae (PNe) can be used to trace intermediate and old stellar populations in galaxies and the intracluster medium out to approximately 20 Mpc. PNe can be easily identified with narrow-band surveys, and their chemical abundances…
Spectroscopic studies of Planetary Nebulae (PNe) and H {\sc ii} regions have driven much development in atomic physics. In the last few years the combination of a generation of powerful observatories, the development of ever more…
Planetary nebulae trace the hottest and most luminous phase of evolution of solar-type stars. We use these hot, bright stars to investigate extinctions towards a complete sample of 262 confirmed PNe with large angular diameters, which have…
AGB stars appear to lose mass spherically, but many PNe resulting from the AGB mass-loss have non-spherical morphologies. Compact disks have been found in some bipolar PNe, but their role in the shaping process remains unknown. Compact…
The interaction of planetary nebulae (PNe) with the interstellar medium as they move through it is now acknowledged to be a major shaping effect not just for ancient and large PNe, but also for relatively young PNe with high speed central…
Low- and intermediate-mass ($\rm 0.8~M_\odot < M < 8~M_\odot$) stars that evolve into planetary nebulae (PNe) play an important role in tracing and driving Galactic chemical evolution. Spectroscopy of PNe enables access to both the initial…
The transition from the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) to the planetary nebula (PN) phase is critical in the shaping of PNe. It is suggested that the most asymmetric PNe are the descendant of massive AGB stars. Since these AGB stars are…
We present results from the first large-scale survey of neutron(n)-capture element abundances in planetary nebulae (PNe). This survey was motivated by the fact that a PN may be enriched in n-capture elements if its progenitor star…
We present a new synthetic model to follow the evolution of a planetary nebula (PN) and its central star, starting from the onset of AGB phase up to the white dwarf cooling sequence. The model suitably combines various analytical…
To understand how the circumstellar environments of post-AGB stars develop into planetary nebulae, we initiate a systematic study of 2D axisymmetric hydrodynamic simulations of protoplanetary nebula (pPN) with a modified ZEUS code. The aim…
Single stars in ancient globular clusters (GCs) are believed incapable of producing planetary nebulae (PNe), because their post-asymptotic-giant-branch evolutionary timescales are slower than the dissipation timescales for PNe.…
Supernovae descendent from massive stars explode in media that have been modified by their progenitors' mass loss and UV radiation. The supernova ejecta will first interact with the circumstellar material shed by the progenitors at late…
Planetary Nebulae (PNe) have been used satisfactory to test the effects of stellar evolution on the Galactic chemical environment. Moreover, a link exists between nebular morphology and stellar populations and evolution. We present the…
In this review/tutorial we explore planetary nebulae as a stage in the evolution of low-to-intermediate-mass stars, as major contributors to the mass and chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium, and as astrophysical laboratories. We…
The circumstellar envelopes of carbon-rich AGB stars show a chemical complexity that is exemplified by the prototypical object IRC +10216, in which about 60 different molecules have been detected to date. Most of these species are carbon…
The recent availability of wideband receivers and high sensitivity instruments in the mm and submm wavelengths has opened the possibility of studying in detail the chemistry of the interstellar medium in extragalactic objects. Within the…
The elemental abundances of ten planetary nebulae, derived with high accuracy including ISO and IUE spectra, are analysed with the aid of synthetic evolutionary models for the TP-AGB phase. Model prescriptions are varied until we achieve…