Shaping of Planetary Nebulae by Dust Driven AGB Winds

We have investigated the interacting winds model (IWM) in which the shapes of elliptical Planetary Nebulae (PNe) can be explained by the asymmetric mass loss produced by a rotating AGB star. The mass loss mechanism is based on a dust driven wind calculated for stationary situations. Already for small rotation rates of the AGB star we get a significantly angle-dependent mass loss which is concentrated towards the equatorial plane. This pole to equator density variation in the space surrounding the star influences the shape of the later developed PN. We compare these theoretical shapes with observed PNe and for some objects with well known quantities our model can fit the observations quite well. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.