2005/12/06 by Noam Soker · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/500291
published as Astrophys.J.640:966-970,2006 · The Astrophysical Journal, in press (5 pages)
arxiv created 2005/12/06 · openalex publication_date 2006/03/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
I propose that some of the most luminous planetary nebulae (PNs) are actually proto-PNs, where a companion white dwarf (WD) accretes mass at a relatively high rate from the post-asymptotic giant branch star that blew the nebula. The WD sustains a continuous nuclear burning and ionizes the nebula. The WD is luminous enough to make the dense nebula luminous in the [O III] λ5007 line. In young stellar populations these WD accreting systems account for a small fraction of [O III]-luminous PNs, but in old stellar populations these binaries might account for most, or even all, of the [O III]-luminous PNs. This might explain the puzzling constant cutoff (maximum) [O III] λ5007 luminosity of the planetary nebula luminosity function across different galaxy types.