A unique Galactic planetary nebula with a [WN] central star

We report the discovery of the first probable Galactic [WN] central star of a planetary nebula (CSPN). The planetary nebula candidate was found during our systematic scans of the AAO/UKST Hα Survey of the Milky Way. Subsequent confirmatory spectroscopy of the nebula and central star reveals the remarkable nature of this object. The nebular spectrum shows emission lines with large expansion velocities exceeding 150 km s⁻¹, suggesting that perhaps the object is not a conventional planetary nebula. The central star itself is very red and is identified as being of the [WN] class, which makes it unique in the Galaxy. A large body of supplementary observational data supports the hypothesis that this object is indeed a planetary nebula and not a Population I Wolf–Rayet star with a ring nebula.     

The Leonard Award Address Presented 1998 July 27, Dublin,Ireland: On the difficulties of making Earth-like planets

Abstract— Here I discuss the series of events that led to the formation and evolution of our planet to examine why the Earth is unique in the solar system. A multitude of factors are involved: These begin with the initial size and angular momentum of the fragment that separated from a molecular cloud; such random factors are crucial in determining whether a planetary system or a double star develops from the resulting nebula. Another requirement is that there must be an adequate concentration of heavy elements to provide the 2% “rock” and “ice” components of the original nebula. An essential step in forming rocky planets in the inner nebula is the loss of gas and depletion of volatile elements, due to early solar activity that is linked to the mass of the central star. The lifetime of the gaseous nebula controls the formation of gas giants. In our system, fine timing was needed to form the gas giant, Jupiter, before the gas in the nebula was depleted. Although Uranus and Neptune eventually formed cores large enough to capture gas, they missed out and ended as ice giants. The early formation of Jupiter is responsible for the existence of the asteroid belt (and our supply of meteorites) and the small size of Mars, whereas the gas giant now acts as a gravitational shield for the terrestrial planets. The Earth and the other inner planets accreted long after the giant planets, from volatile-depleted planetesimals that were probably already differentiated into metallic cores and silicate mantles in a gas-free, inner nebula. The accumulation of the Earth from such planetesimals was essentially a stochastic process, accounting for the differences among the four rocky inner planets—including the startling contrast between those two apparent twins, Earth and Venus. Impact history and accretion of a few more or less planetesimals were apparently crucial. The origin of the Moon by a single massive impact with a body larger than Mars accounts for the obliquity (and its stability) and spin of the Earth, in addition to explaining the angular momentum, orbital characteristics, and unique composition of the Moon. Plate tectonics (unique among the terrestrial planets) led to the development of the continental crust on the Earth, an essential platform for the evolution of Homo sapiens. Random major impacts have punctuated the geological record, accentuating the directionless course of evolution. Thus a massive asteroidal impact terminated the Cretaceous Period, resulted in the extinction of at least 70% of species living at that time, and led to the rise of mammals. This sequence of events that resulted in the formation and evolution of our planet were thus unique within our system. The individual nature of the eight planets is repeated among the 60-odd satellites—no two appear identical. This survey of our solar system raises the question whether the random sequence of events that led to the formation of the Earth are likely to be repeated in detail elsewhere. Preliminary evidence from the “new planets” is not reassuring. The discovery of other planetary systems has removed the previous belief that they would consist of a central star surrounded by an inner zone of rocky planets and an outer zone of giant planets beyond a few astronomical units (AU). Jupiter-sized bodies in close orbits around other stars probably formed in a similar manner to our giant planets at several astronomical units from their parent star and, subsequently, migrated inwards becoming stranded in close but stable orbits as “hot Jupiters”, when the nebula gas was depleted. Such events would prevent the formation of terrestrial-type planets in such systems.     

Planetary nebula chemical abundances: Z-distribution and connection with the central star masses

Dependencies of galactic planetary nebula chemical abundances and their central star masses on the distance from the galactic plane are discussed.Z-dependencies of He/H, N/H, N/O and Ar/H and dependencies of He/H, N/H, N/O, Ne/H and Ar/H on central star mass are found. Three galactic planetary nebula distance scale samples are used and it is shown that the distance scale system (where distances of each planetary nebula mass class are determined with the separate scale) is the most reliable. The correlations obtained for the Magellanic Cloud planetary nebulae are used for comparison.     

A new Wolf–Rayet star and its ring nebula: PCG 11

In a search for new Galactic planetary nebulae from our systematic scans of the Anglo-Australian Observatory/United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope (AAO/UKST) Hα Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane, we have identified a Population I Wolf–Rayet star of type WN7h associated with an unusual ring nebula that has a fractured rim. We present imagery in Hα, the 843-MHz continuum from the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST), the mid-infrared from the Midcourse Space Experiment ( MSX ), and confirmatory optical spectroscopy of the character of the nebula and of its central star. The inner edge of the Hα shell shows gravitational instabilities with a well-defined wavelength around its complete circumference.     

Detecting planets in planetary nebulae

We examine the possibility of detecting signatures of surviving Uranus/Neptune-like planets inside planetary nebulae. Planets that are not too close to the stars (orbital separation larger than ∼5 au) are likely to survive the entire evolution of the star. As the star turns into a planetary nebula, it has a fast wind and strong ionizing radiation. The interaction of the radiation and wind with a planet may lead to the formation of a compact condensation or tail inside the planetary nebula, which emits strongly in H α , but not in [O  iii ]. The position of the condensation (or tail) will change over a time-scale of ∼10 yr. Such condensations might be detected with currently existing telescopes.     

Backflow in post-asymptotic giant branch stars

We derive the conditions for a backflow toward the central star(s) of circumstellar material to occur during the post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) phase. The backflowing material may be accreted by the post-AGB star and/or its companion, if such exists. Such a backflow may play a significant role in shaping the descendant planetary nebula, by, among other things, slowing down the post-AGB evolution, and by forming an accretion disc which may blow two jets. We consider three forces acting on a slowly moving mass element: the gravity of the central system, radiation pressure, and fast wind ram pressure. We find that for a significant backflow to occur, a slow dense flow should exist, such that the relation between the total mass in the slow flow, M _i , and the solid angle it covers Ω, is given by     , where     . The requirement for both a high mass-loss rate per unit solid angle and a very slow wind, such that it can be decelerated and flow back, probably requires close binary interaction, hence this process is rare.     

Photometric observations of the central star of the planetary nebula NGC 2346 in 1991/1992

Photoelectric UBV observations of the central star of the planetary nebula NGC 2346 obtained during 60 nights between October 1991 and February 1992 are presented (Tables 1 and 2). Four minima have been stated and can be interpreted in terms of occulting dust clouds, probably representing dense condensations of the planetary nebula. We derived R = A_V/E_B—V = 4.0.     

星系中原子和分子气体的半解析模型

星际气体是星系中重子物质的重要组成部分,其中的分子气体（主要是分子氢H₂）以及原子气体（主要是中性氢HI）对于星系中发生的各个物理过程至关重要。本文在前人的星系形成和演化的半解析模型基础上,加入了描述星系盘中分子气体和原子气体成分的物理模型,来研究分子气体和原子气体对于星系形成和演化所起的作用。我们主要使用了马普天体物理所Munich Group的L-Galaxies半解析星系形成模型,并借鉴了星系化学演化模型的方法,把半解析模型中的每一个星系盘分成了多个同心圆圈,然后在每个圈中分别追踪气体下落、分子气体和原子气体转化、恒星形成、金属增丰、超新星爆发加热冷气体等发生在星系盘上的物理过程,并且每个同心圈都是独立演化的。在我们的模型中,一个基本假设是每个时间步内气体都是以指数形式下落到星系盘上,并且直接叠加在已有的气体径向面密度轮廓之上,其中指数盘的标长r_d正比于星系所在暗物质晕的维里半径r_vir与旋转参量λ的乘积。我们的模型使用了两种描述分子气体形成的模型:一种是基于Krumholz等人解析模型的结果,其中分子气体的比例与局域气体面密度以及局域气体金属丰度相关;另一种是分子气体比例与星际压强相关的模型,根据Obreschkow等人的近似,分子气体的比例与气体面密度以及恒星质量面密度相关。由于恒星形成过程发生在星际巨分子云之中,并且根据Leroy等人的观测结果,恒星形成率面密度近似正比于分子气体的面密度,因此我们在模型中使用了与分子气体面密度相关的恒星形成规律。     

Far-ultraviolet spectroscopy of the hot DA white dwarf WD 2218+706 (DeHt5) with STIS

We report a study of the photospheric composition of the hot DA white dwarf WD 2218+706, which is also the central star of the old planetary nebula DeHt5. Helium is detected in the far-UV spectrum. In addition, the star clearly contains significant quantities of elements heavier than He at abundances generally a factor of 2 to 10 higher than those found in the archetypal heavy element-rich DA G191−B2B. This is the first detection of trace He using the He  ii λ 1640 line in an isolated DA white dwarf, but the low surface gravity is more indicative of a binary evolution route from the red giant branch rather than a path along the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) as a single star. However, the absence of any evidence for a companion star and the uncertainty in the measured mass for WD 2218+706 still allow the possibility of an origin along an AGB evolutionary track.
We reanalyse the existing optical spectra of WD 2218+706 using our latest pure H and heavy element-rich model atmospheres, obtaining a good match between the observed and synthetic spectra with either set of models. We find little evidence of any inconsistency in the temperature required to fit individual Balmer lines, as reported elsewhere for this star. Any discrepancies we see are confined to the H α line and the core of H β but they do not compromise our analysis.     

The Crab Nebula's dynamical age as measured from its northern filamentary jet

We present a deep [O  iii ]λλ4959,5007 image of the northern filamentary jet in the Crab Nebula taken with the 8.2-m Subaru telescope. Using this image and an image taken with the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) 4-m in 1988, we have computed proper motions for 35 locations in the jet. The results suggest that when compared to the main body of the remnant, the jet experienced less outward acceleration from the central pulsar's rapidly expanding synchrotron nebula. The jet's apparent expansion rate yields an undecelerated explosion date for the Crab Nebula of 1055 ± 24 CE, a date much closer to the appearance of the historic 1054 CE guest star than the 1120–1140 CE dates estimated in previous studies using filaments located within the remnant's main nebula. Our proper motion measurements suggest the jet likely formed during the 1054 supernova explosion and represents the remnant's highest velocity knots possibly associated with a suspected N–S bipolar outflow from the supernova explosion.     

The Hα observations of the California Nebula (NGC 1499) with DEFPOS

A dual étalon Fabry‐Pérot spectrometer called DEFPOS has been used for observing physical properties of HII regions and planetary nebulae since May 2007 (Aksaker et al. 2009, 2011; Şahan et al. 2009; Şahan 2011). In this study, the Hα measurements of the HII region NGC 1499 (California Nebula) have been investigated with a 4′ circular field of view over a 200 km s^–1 (4.4 Å) spectral window. These measurements provide information about the densities, line widths, and radial velocities of the surrounding NGC 1499 nebula. The intensities, the radial velocities and the line widths of the Hα emission line vary from 397.75 R to 1044.14 R, –4.88 km s^–1 to –1.02 km s^–1, and 36.72 km s^–1 to 42.81 km s^–1, respectively (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

GG Tau: the ringworld and beyond

In binary stellar systems, exoplanet searches have revealed planetary mass companions orbiting both in circumstellar and in circumbinary orbits. Modelling studies suggest increased dynamical complexity around the young stars that form such systems. Circumstellar and circumbinary disks likely exhibit different physical conditions for planet formation, which also depends on the stellar separation. Although binaries and higher order multiple stars are relatively common in nearby star-forming regions, surprisingly few systems with circumbinary distributions of proto-planetary material have been found. With its spectacular ring of dust and gas encircling the central triple star, one such system, GG Tau A, has become a unique laboratory for investigating the physics of circumsystem gas and dust evolution. We review here its physical properties.     

Large-Scale Structure of the Carina Nebula

Observations obtained with the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite reveal for the first time the complex mid-infrared morphology of the entire Carina Nebula (NGC 3372). On the largest size scale of approximately 100 pc, the thermal infrared emission from the giant H ii region delineates one coherent structure: a (somewhat distorted) bipolar nebula with the major axis perpendicular to the Galactic plane. The Carina Nebula is usually described as an evolved H ii region that is no longer actively forming stars, clearing away the last vestiges of its natal molecular cloud. However, the MSX observations presented here reveal numerous embedded infrared sources that are good candidates for sites of current star formation. Several compact infrared sources are located at the heads of dust pillars or in dark globules behind ionization fronts. Because their morphology suggests a strong interaction with the peculiar collection of massive stars in the nebula, we speculate that these new infrared sources may be sites of triggered star formation in NGC 3372.     

Experiments to Study Radiation Transport in Clumpy Media

Clumpiness of the interstellar medium may play an important role in the transfer of infrared continuum radiation in star forming regions (Boisse, 1990). For example, in homogeneous models, C II emission should be confined to the cloud edge (Viala, 1986). However, in star formation regions (such as M17SW, M17 and W51), it is observed to extend deep into the molecular cloud (Stutzki et al., 1988; Keene et al., 1985). One plausible interpretation of these observations is that, due to their clumpiness, the clouds are penetrated by UV radiation far deeper than expected from simple homogeneous models. The interaction of H II regions around young massive stars with a clumpy medium is another area of interest. Molecular clouds are well established to be clumpy on length scales down to the limits of observational resolution. Clumps can act as localized reservoirs of gas which can be injected into the surroundings by photoionization and/or hydrodynamic ablation (Dyson et al., 1995; Mathis et al., 1998). The calculation of radiation transport in hot, clumpy materials is a challenging problem. Approximate, statistical treatments of this problem have been developed by several workers, but their application has not been tested in detail. We describe laboratory experiments, using the Omega laser to test modelling of radiation transport through clumpy media in the form of inhomogeneous plasmas.     

Embedded star clusters and the formation of the Oort cloud: II. The effect of the primordial solar nebula

This paper deals with Oort cloud formation while the Sun was in an embedded cluster and surrounded by its primordial nebula. This work is a continuation of Brasser et al. [Brasser, R., Duncan, M., Levison, H., 2006. Icarus 184, 59-82], building on the model presented therein, and adding the aerodynamic drag and gravitational potential of the primordial solar nebula. Results are presented of numerical simulations of comets subject to the gravitational influence of the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, star cluster and primordial solar nebula; some of the simulations included the gravitational influence of Uranus and Neptune as well. The primordial solar nebula was approximated by the minimum-mass Hayashi model [Hayashi, C., Nakozawa, K., Nakagawa, Y., 1985. In: Black, D.C., Matthews, M.S. (Eds.). Protostars and Planets II. Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ] whose inner and outer radii have been truncated at various distances from the Sun. A comet size of 1.7 km was used for most of our simulations. In all of our simulations, the density of the primordial solar nebula decayed exponentially with an e-folding time of 2 Myr. It turns out that when the primordial solar nebula extends much beyond Saturn or Neptune, virtually no material will end up in the Oort cloud (OC) during this phase. Instead, the majority of the material will be on circular orbits inside of Jupiter if the inner edge of the disk is well inside Jupiter's orbit. If the disk's inner edge is beyond Jupiter's orbit, most comets end up on orbits in exterior mean-motion resonances with Saturn when Uranus and Neptune are not present. In those cases where the outer edge of the disk is close to Saturn or Neptune, the fraction of material that ends up in the subsequently formed OC is much less than that found in Brasser et al. [Brasser, R., Duncan, M., Levison, H., 2006. Icarus 184, 59-82] for the same cluster densities. This implies that for comets of roughly 2 km in size, the presence of the primordial solar nebula hinders OC formation. A byproduct of some of our simulations are endresults with a substantial fraction of the comets in the Uranus-Neptune scattered disk. A subsequent followup of this material is planned for the near future. In order to determine the effect of the size of the comets on OC formation efficiency, a set of runs with the same initial conditions but different cometary radii have been performed as well, from which it is determined that the threshold comet size to begin producing significant Oort clouds is roughly 20 km. This implies that the presence of the primordial solar nebula acts as a size-sorting mechanism, with large bodies unaffected by the gas drag and ending up in the OC while small bodies remain trapped in the planetary region, in the models studied.     

The formation of Uranus and Neptune in solid-rich feeding zones: Connecting chemistry and dynamics

The core accretion theory of planet formation has at least two fundamental problems explaining the origins of Uranus and Neptune: (1) dynamical times in the trans-saturnian solar nebula are so long that core growth can take >15 Myr and (2) the onset of runaway gas accretion that begins when cores reach ∼10M_⊕ necessitates a sudden gas accretion cutoff just as Uranus and Neptune’s cores reach critical mass. Both problems may be resolved by allowing the ice giants to migrate outward after their formation in solid-rich feeding zones with planetesimal surface densities well above the minimum-mass solar nebula. We present new simulations of the formation of Uranus and Neptune in the solid-rich disk of Dodson-Robinson et al. (Dodson-Robinson, S.E., Willacy, K., Bodenheimer, P., Turner, N.J., Beichman, C.A. [2009]. Icarus 200, 672-693) using the initial semimajor axis distribution of the Nice model (Gomes, R., Levison, H.F., Tsiganis, K., Morbidelli, A. [2005]. Nature 435, 466-469; Morbidelli, A., Levison, H.F., Tsiganis, K., Gomes, R. [2005]. Nature 435, 462-465; Tsiganis, K., Gomes, R., Morbidelli, A., Levison, H.F. [2005]. Nature 435, 459-461), with one ice giant forming at 12 AU and the other at 15 AU. The innermost ice giant reaches its present mass after 3.8-4.0 Myr and the outermost after 5.3-6 Myr, a considerable time decrease from previous one-dimensional simulations (e.g. Pollack, J.B., Hubickyj, O., Bodenheimer, P., Lissauer, J.J., Podolak, M., Greenzweig, Y. [1996]. Icarus 124, 62-85). The core masses stay subcritical, eliminating the need for a sudden gas accretion cutoff.Our calculated carbon mass fractions of 22% are in excellent agreement with the ice giant interior models of Podolak et al. (Podolak, M., Weizman, A., Marley, M. [1995]. Planet. Space Sci. 43, 1517-1522) and Marley et al. (Marley, M.S., Gómez, P., Podolak, M. [1995]. J. Geophys. Res. 100, 23349-23354). Based on the requirement that the ice giant-forming planetesimals contain >10% mass fractions of methane ice, we can reject any Solar System formation model that initially places Uranus and Neptune inside of Saturn’s orbit. We also demonstrate that a large population of planetesimals must be present in both ice giant feeding zones throughout the lifetime of the gaseous nebula. This research marks a substantial step forward in connecting both the dynamical and chemical aspects of planet formation. Although we cannot say that the solid-rich solar nebula model of Dodson-Robinson et al. (Dodson-Robinson, S.E., Willacy, K., Bodenheimer, P., Turner, N.J., Beichman, C.A. [2009]. Icarus 200, 672-693) gives exactly the appropriate initial conditions for planet formation, rigorous chemical and dynamical tests have at least revealed it to be a viable model of the early Solar System.     

Outline of a theory of planet formation in binary systems

A theory is presented for determining regions where planets may form in binary star systems. Planet formation by accretion is assumed possible if mean planetesimal collision velocities do not exceed a critical value. Collision velocities are increased by perturbations due to the companion star, treated by secular perturbation theory. Collision velocities are damped by aerodynamic drag within the solar nebula, taken as the linear case of Cameron and Pine.A general feature of planetary systems in binary stars is the existence of two zones. The inner zone has enough damping to permit unimpeded growth by accretion; in the outer zone, growth proceeds to a limited diameter, beyond which damping is insufficient. It is shown that the asteroids could not have failed to coalesce due to Jupiter perturbations in the primitive solar nebula. Binary star systems with semimajor axis < 30AU are not likely to have planets; these include Alpha Centauri and 70 Ophiuchi. Systems possibly possessing planets include Eta Cassiopeiae, 40 Eridani, and Σ 2398. Epsilon Eridani is a marginal case.     

Merging Massive Star Clusters as Building Blocks of Dwarf Galaxies?

Recent spectroscopic observations of galaxies in the Fornax-Cluster reveal nearly unresolved ‘star-like’ objects with red-shifts appropriate to the Fornax-Cluster. These objects have intrinsic sizes of ≈ 100 pc and absolute B-band magnitudes in the range - 14 < M_B < -11.5 mag and lower limits for the central surface brightness μ_B ≥ 23 mag/arcsec² (Phillipps et al., 2001, Hilker et al., 1999), and so appear to constitute a new population of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs). Such compact dwarfs were predicted to form from the amalgamation of stellar super-clusters (= clusters of star clusters; not to confuse with super stellar clusters (SSC)) by P. Kroupa (1998), which are rich aggregates of young massive star clusters (YMCs) that can form in collisions between gas-rich galaxies. Here we present the evolution of super-clusters in a tidal field. The YMCs merge on a few super-cluster crossing times. Super-clusters that are initially as concentrated and massive as Knot S in the interacting Antennae galaxies (Whitmore et al., 1999) evolve to merger objects that are long-lived and show properties comparable to the newly discovered UCDs. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Orion Nebula: structure,dynamics, and population

The physical nature and evolution of the Orion Nebula has begun to be revealed by calibrated emission line images and high resolution spectroscopy. We review the evidence that the nebula is a thin wall of emission on the near side of the Orion Molecular Cloud and that its separation from the dominant ionizing star is about 0.3 pc. The density of the nebula decreases rapidly away from the ionization front and the ionized gas is moving at 8 km s^–1 away from the front. A three dimensional model of the surface is presented and its peaks and valleys interpreted as due to irregularities in the density of the molecular cloud. The front is moving rapidly into the molecular cloud, so that objects previously shielded from ionization are continuously being revealed. Recent Hubble Space Telescope images are reviewed and they indicate that protoplanetary disks around pre-main sequence stars are both common and rendered visible by ionization and projection against the bright nebula. A large body of velocity data is discussed and it is seen that Kolmogorov type turbulence seems to only apply to material in the ionization front and the statistical fluctuations become less correlated away from the front.     

Modeling the Dust Shell of V4334 Sgr

The central star V4334 Sgr (Sakurai's Object) of the planetary nebula PN G010.4+04.4 underwent in 1995–1996 the rare event of a very late helium flash.It is only one of two such events during the era of modern astronomy (the other event was V605 Aql = Nova Aql 1919). All other prominentobjects of that type originate from events several thousands of years ago (e.g. A30, A78). Hence, only snapshots can be modeled for those objects.V4334 Sgr allows for the first time a dynamic consideration of the formation of the dust shell from the beginning.We present here a model which is able to describe the complete photometric behaviorof the object, including the fine structure dips of the optical light curve during the first two years of the mass loss and the dust formation.