Detecting planets in planetary nebulae |
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Authors: | Noam Soker |
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Affiliation: | Department of Physics, University of Haifa at Oranim, Tivon 36006, Israel |
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Abstract: | 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. |
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Keywords: | stars: AGB and post-AGB binaries: close planetary systems planetary nebulae: general |
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