Thursday, October 20, 2011

1110.4192 (D. Douchin et al.)

Estimating the binary fraction of planetary nebulae central stars    [PDF]

D. Douchin, O. De Marco, D. J. Frew, G. H. Jacoby, J. -C. Passy, T. Hillwig, S. B. Howell, H. Bond, A. Peyaud, A. Zijlstra, R. Napiwotzki, G. Jasniewicz, Q. Parker
During the past 20 years, the idea that non-spherical planetary nebulae might need a binary or planetary interaction to be shaped was discussed by various authors. It is now generally agreed that the varied morphologies of planetary nebulae cannot be fully explained solely by single star evolution. Observationally, more binary central stars of planetary nebulae have been discovered, opening new possibilities to understand the connections between binarity and morphology. So far, \simeq45 binary central stars of planetary nebulae have been detected, most being close systems detected via flux variability. In order to determine the PN binary fraction, one needs a method that can detect wider binaries. We present here recent results concentrating on binary infrared excess observations aimed at detecting binaries of any separation.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.4192

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