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Close-Binary and Pulsating Central Stars
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 July 2016
Abstract
As a result of photometric-monitoring studies, 7 planetary-nebula nuclei are now known to be binaries with orbital periods less than one day. These systems were probably produced via a common-envelope interaction, during which a wide pair was converted to a close binary surrounded by an ejected red-giant envelope. The frequency of occurrence of such close binaries among PNNs is about 10–15%, showing that binary-star interactions are a significant production mechanism for planetary nebulae. The descendants of close-binary PNNs are probably the cataclysmic variables. Two CVs surrounded by nebulae resembling old planetaries, 0623+71 and GK Per, may provide the most direct evidence for the origin of CVs through PN ejection. The observed birth rate for close-binary PNNs is more than an order of magnitude higher than for CVs, possibly indicating that our census of the CV population is very incomplete. The nucleus of K 1-16 is a member of the GW Vir class of extremely hot pulsating pre-white dwarfs, and the only one known to be surrounded by a PN. These objects offer exciting opportunities for direct measurement of evolutionary timescales and for seismological investigations of the interiors of PNNs and their immediate descendants.
- Type
- III. Central Stars
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- Copyright © Kluwer 1989