Related papers: The structure of Planetary Nebulae: theory vs. pra…
We examine the images of hundreds of planetary nebulae (PNe) and find that for about one in six PNe the morphology is too `messy' to be accounted for by models of stellar binary interaction. We speculate that interacting triple stellar…
A historical perspective on the study of asymmetries in planetary nebulae (PNs) is presented. We also describe our ongoing work in high resolution spectroscopy of planetaries, and discuss some likely future directions for the study of…
This review discusses the physics of the formation of planetary nebulae around low mass WR stars, or [WR] stars. It especially focuses on the differences which can be expected due to the different character of the fast winds from these [WR]…
The role of central star binarity in the shaping of planetary nebulae (PNe) has been the subject of much debate, with single stars believed to be incapable of producing the most highly collimated morphologies. However, observational support…
This review is focussed on the outer halos of elliptical galaxies. Its emphasis is on (i) planetary nebulae as test particles to trace the stellar kinematics at large radii, (ii) the observed angular momentum in elliptical galaxy halos and…
During the past 20 years, the idea that non-spherical planetary nebulae (PN) may need a binary or planetary interaction to be shaped was discussed by various authors. It is now generally agreed that the varied morphologies of PN cannot be…
Some of the correlations between morphological and other physical properties of planetary nebulae (PNe) are reviewed. In particular, the finding that bipolar (b) PNe have more massive progenitors than the other morphological classes is…
When astronomers study the dark matter halos of spiral galaxies, they normally assume that the disk mass-to-light ratio is *constant*. We describe a method of analyzing the kinematics of planetary nebulae (PNe) in nearby face-on spiral…
Planetary nebulae (PNe) are essential tracers of the kinematics of the diffuse halo and intracluster light where stellar spectroscopy is unfeasible, due to their strong emission lines. However, that is not all they can reveal about the…
We present the result of a study on the expansion properties and internal kinematics of round/elliptical planetary nebulae of the Milky Way disk, the halo, and of the globular cluster M15. The purpose of this study is to considerably…
Planetary nebulae (PNe) have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of extragalactic stellar populations. Indeed, in many systems, bright PNe are the only individual objects identifiable from the ground, and, even more often, they…
How is the universe organized on large scales? How did this structure evolve from the unknown initial conditions of a rather smooth early universe to the present time? The answers to these questions will shed light on the cosmology we live…
New ground-based telescopes and instruments, the return of the NICMOS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the recent launch of the Spitzer Space Telescope have provided new tools that are being utilized in the study of…
We have constructed photo-ionization models of five galactic bulge planetary nebulae using our automatic method which enables a fully self-consistent determination of the physical parameters of a planetary nebula. The models are constrained…
We present a brief review on the formation and evolution of hydrogen deficient central stars of planetary nebulae. We include a detailed description of the main observable features of both the central stars and their surrounding nebulae and…
Recent analysis of the Planck measurements opened a possibility that we live in a non-flat universe. Given the renewed interest in non-zero spatial curvature, here we re-visit the light propagation in a non-flat universe and provide the…
We present a statistical analysis of a complete sample (255) of northern planetary nebulae (PNe). Our analysis is based on morphology as a main parameter. The major morphological classes are: round (26 % of the sample), elliptical (61 %),…
We present a dynamical analysis of 673 galactic Planetary Nebulae, using a two-integral axisymmetric model with a Kuzmin-Kutuzov St\"{a}ckel potential. The method fits the kinematics to the projected moments of a distribution function, by…
In this PhD Thesis we study the occurrence of powerful stellar outbursts in the late phases of evolution of stars like the Sun. This is one of the most controversial topics in the field, as the extraordinary variety of shapes revealed by…
We present new analytical solutions for the dynamics of planetary nebulae. These equations consider the temporal variation of the mechanical luminosity as well as the common envelope evolution scenario. By comparing a database of nebulae…