Related papers: The Ever Changing Circumstellar Nebula Around UW C…

Abundances of R Coronae Borealis stars (RCBs) and Extreme Helium stars (EHes) are discussed. Recent estimates of the $s$-process elements in hot extreme helium stars show enhancements of lighter $s$-process elements (Y, Zr) relative to…

It is now clear that central star binarity plays a key role in the formation and evolution of planetary nebulae, with a significant fraction playing host to close-binary central stars which have survived one or more common envelope…

Tomographic and 3-D analyses for extended, emission-line objects are applied to long-slit ESO NTT + EMMI high-resolution spectra of the intriguing planetary nebula NGC 7009, covered at twelve position angles. We derive the gas expansion…

Planetary Nebulae are the ionised ejected envelopes surrounding the remnant cores of dying stars. Theory predicts that main-sequence stars with one to about eight times the mass of our sun may eventually form planetary nebulae. Until now no…

We report on a discovery of a diffuse nebula containing a pointlike source in the southern blowout region of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, based on Suzaku and XMM-Newton observations. The X-ray spectra from the nebula and the pointlike…

We present multi-epoch, diffraction-limited images of the nebula around the carbon star CIT 6 at 2.2 microns and 3.1 microns from aperture masking on the Keck-I telescope. The near-IR nebula is resolved into two main components, an…

We report on the coronal activity cycles of our stellar neighbors alpha Centauri A/B. The binary has been monitored with XMM-Newton since 2002 to study the long-term evolution of coronal activity evolution in X-rays. The solar analog alpha…

The Monoceros R2 region was first recognized as a chain of reflection nebulae illuminated by A- and B-type stars. These nebulae are associated with a giant molecular cloud that is one of the closest massive star forming regions to the Sun.…

The Stingray Nebula, aka Hen3-1357, appeared for the first time in 1990 when bright nebular lines and radio emission that had not been observed before were unexpectedly discovered (Parthasarathy et al. 1993). In the ensuing years the nebula…

We present three years of long-cadence and over one year of short-cadence photometry of the central star of the Planetary Nebula NGC 6826 obtained with the Kepler spacecraft, and temporally coinciding optical spectroscopy. The light curves…

We observed five central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPN) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and three in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), in the range 905-1187 Ang. We performed a…

We present a new theoretical estimate for the birthrate of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars that is in agreement with recent observational data. We find the current Galactic birthrate of RCB stars to be $\approx$ 25% of the Galactic rate of…

Eta Carinae is a massive interacting binary system shrouded in a complex circumstellar environment whose evolution is the source of the long-term brightening observed during the last 80 years. An occulter, acting as a natural coronagraph,…

We report the discovery of two new circumstellar ring nebulae in the western Carina Nebula. The brighter object, SBW1, resembles a lidless staring eye and encircles a B1.5 Iab supergiant. Its size is identical to the inner ring around…

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…

We present high resolution spectra of the five known hydrogen-deficient carbon (HdC) stars in the vicinity of the 10830 Angstrom line of neutral helium. In R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars the He I line is known to be strong and broad, often…

We present a study of McNeil's Nebula, a newly appeared reflection nebula in the L1630 cloud, together with photometry and spectroscopy of its source. New IR photometry compared to earlier 2MASS data shows that the star has brightened by…

We investigate the evolutionary status of four stars: V348 Sgr, DY Cen and MV Sgr in the Galaxy and HV 2671 in the LMC. These stars have in common random deep declines in visual brightness which are characteristic for R Coronae Borealis…

Nuclear stellar clusters are common in the center of galaxies. We consider the possibility that their progenitors assumed to be globular clusters may have formed elsewhere, migrated to and assembled near their present location. The main…

The link between the shaping of bipolar planetary nebulae and their central stars is still poorly understood. The kinematics and shaping of the multipolar nebula M 1-75 are hereby investigated, and the location and nature of its central…