scholarly journals Evolution of Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae Theory

1968 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 409-420
Author(s):  
Edwin E. Salpeter

Before discussing observational inputs and actual model calculations, I want to give a very elementary review of the relevant parts of stellar evolution theory. We shall only be dealing with stellar masses M below the Chandrasekhar limiting mass Mch(~1·2–1·45 M⊙, depending on chemical composition). The inequality M<Mch implies that relativistic effects are not of overriding importance and I will not mention them further (however, all quantitative model calculations which I will mention later include all the relativistic corrections to the equation of state, including radiation pressure which is also not very important). Let us try to estimate how the central temperature Tc and (total bolometric) luminosity L varies with central density ρc or radius R(ρc~MR−3) for a star of fixed mass.

1978 ◽  
Vol 80 ◽  
pp. 101-116
Author(s):  
Jesse L. Greenstein

The HR diagram is a useful shorthand locating a star in a two-coordinate space. For the astrophysicist, the y-coordinate is bolometric luminosity, Mbol, the x-coordinate, effective temperature, Teff. Objects of given chemical composition, age (or evolutionary status) are labeled in the xy plane by mass. For an observer, y may be apparent or absolute magnitude in a certain wavelength region and x may be spectral type or color. The HR diagrams for populations differ because of age, chemical composition and stellar masses present. HR diagrams are often of mixed nature; some involve observables others derived or semi-theoretical quantities. I will display various types of HR diagrams for low-luminosity stars. For galactic or extragalactic studies the HR diagram needs a further dimension, the frequency of stars at an x,y. The mass of the Galaxy, but not its light, may be dominated by M dwarfs. HR diagrams are also interesting for their nearly empty spaces. In Fig. 1 we show as a sample, the basic results of the U.S. Naval Observatory parallax program, in which broad band (B-V) colors define the visual luminosity, My, on the main (MS) and degenerate (WD) sequences.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S283) ◽  
pp. 192-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Frew ◽  
Quentin A. Parker

AbstractOur understanding of planetary nebulae has been significantly enhanced as a result of several recent large surveys (Parker et al., these proceedings). These new discoveries suggest that the ‘PN phenomenon’ is in fact more heterogeneous than previously envisaged. Even after the careful elimination of mimics from Galactic PN catalogues, there remains a surprising diversity in the population of PNe and especially their central stars. Indeed, several evolutionary scenarios are implicated in the formation of objects presently catalogued as PNe. We provide a summary of these evolutionary pathways and give examples of each. Eventually, a full census of local PNe can be used to confront both stellar evolution theory and population synthesis models.


2019 ◽  
Vol 626 ◽  
pp. A71 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Artur de la Villarmois ◽  
J. K. Jørgensen ◽  
L. E. Kristensen ◽  
E. A. Bergin ◽  
D. Harsono ◽  
...  

Context. The structure and composition of emerging planetary systems are likely strongly influenced by their natal environment within the protoplanetary disc at the time when the star is still gaining mass. It is therefore essential to identify and study the physical processes at play in the gas and dust close to young protostars and investigate the chemical composition of the material that is inherited from the parental cloud. Aims. The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the physical and chemical structure of Class I low-mass protostellar sources on protoplanetary disc scales. Methods. We present a study of the dust and gas emission towards a representative sample of 12 Class I protostars from the Ophiuchus molecular cloud with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The continuum at 0.87 mm and molecular transitions from C17O, C34S, H13CO+, CH3OH, SO2, and C2H were observed at high angular resolution (0.′′4, ~60 au diameter) towards each source. The spectrally and spatially resolved maps reveal the kinematics and the spatial distribution of each species. Moreover, disc and stellar masses are estimated from the continuum flux and position-velocity diagrams, respectively. Results. Six of the sources show disc-like structures in C17O, C34S, or H13CO+ emission. Towards the more luminous sources, compact emission and large line widths are seen for transitions of SO2 that probe warm gas (Eu ~ 200 K). In contrast, C17O emission is detected towards the least evolved and less luminous systems. No emission of CH3OH is detected towards any of the continuum peaks, indicating an absence of warm CH3OH gas towards these sources. Conclusions. A trend of increasing stellar mass is observed as the envelope mass decreases. In addition, a power-law relation is seen between the stellar mass and the bolometric luminosity, corresponding to a mass accretion rate of (2.4 ± 0.6) × 10−7 M⊙ yr−1 for the Class I sources, with a minimum and maximum value of 7.5 × 10−8 and 7.6 × 10−7 M⊙ yr−1, respectively. This mass accretion rate is lower than the expected value if the accretion is constant in time and rather points to a scenario of accretion occurring in bursts. The differentiation between C17O and SO2 suggests that they trace different physical components: C17O traces the densest and colder regions of the disc-envelope system, while SO2 may be associated with regions of higher temperature, such as accretion shocks. The lack of warm CH3OH emission suggests that there is no hot-core-like region around any of the sources and that the CH3OH column density averaged over the disc is low. Finally, the combination of bolometric temperature and luminosity may indicate an evolutionarytrend of chemical composition during these early stages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (1) ◽  
pp. 1054-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Löbling ◽  
T Rauch ◽  
M M Miller Bertolami ◽  
H Todt ◽  
F Friederich ◽  
...  

Abstract Stellar post asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) evolution can be completely altered by a final thermal pulse (FTP) which may occur when the star is still leaving the AGB (AFTP), at the departure from the AGB at still constant luminosity (late TP, LTP) or after the entry to the white-dwarf cooling sequence (very late TP, VLTP). Then convection mixes the He-rich material with the H-rich envelope. According to stellar evolution models the result is a star with a surface composition of $\mathrm{H}\approx \, 20$ per cent by mass (AFTP), ≈ 1 per cent (LTP), or (almost) no H (VLTP). Since FTP stars exhibit intershell material at their surface, spectral analyses establish constraints for AGB nucleosynthesis and stellar evolution. We performed a spectral analysis of the so-called hybrid PG 1159-type central stars (CS) of the planetary nebulae Abell 43 and NGC 7094 by means of non-local thermodynamical equilibrium models. We confirm the previously determined effective temperatures of $\mbox{$T_\mathrm{eff}$}\, = 115\, 000\pm 5\, 000 \, \mathrm{K}$ and determine surface gravities of $\log\,(g\,/\,(\mathrm{cm}\,\mathrm{s}^{-2} )) = 5.6\pm 0.1$ for both. From a comparison with AFTP evolutionary tracks, we derive stellar masses of $0.57^{+0.07}_{-0.04}$ M⊙ and determine the abundances of H, He, and metals up to Xe. Both CS are likely AFTP stars with a surface H mass fraction of 0.25 ± 0.03 and 0.15 ± 0.03, respectively, and an Fe deficiency indicating subsolar initial metallicities. The light metals show typical PG 1159-type abundances and the elemental composition is in good agreement with predictions from AFTP evolutionary models. However, the expansion ages do not agree with evolution time-scales expected from the AFTP scenario and alternatives should be explored.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (S307) ◽  
pp. 142-143
Author(s):  
R. Simoniello ◽  
G. Meynet ◽  
S. Ekström ◽  
C. Georgy ◽  
A. Granada

AbstractWe produced a model grid of rotating main and post-main sequence stars with the Geneva Stellar Evolution Code (GENEC). The initial chemical composition is tailored to compare with observations of early OB type stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the grid covers stellar masses in the range of 7 ≤ M/M⊙ ≤ 15 and initial velocity between 0 km s−1 ≤ v sin(i) ≤ 300 km s−1. The model grid has been used to determine the changes in the surface Nitrogen abundances during the star evolution and the results have been compared with observations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. A196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila M. Calcaferro ◽  
Alejandro H. Córsico ◽  
Leandro G. Althaus ◽  
Alejandra D. Romero ◽  
S. O. Kepler

Context. Some low-mass white-dwarf (WD) stars with H atmospheres currently being detected in our galaxy, show long-period g(gravity)-mode pulsations, and comprise the class of pulsating WDs called extremely low-mass variable (ELMV) stars. At present, it is generally believed that these stars have thick H envelopes. However, from stellar evolution considerations, the existence of low-mass WDs with thin H envelopes is also possible. Aims. We present a thorough asteroseismological analysis of ELMV stars on the basis of a complete set of fully evolutionary models that represents low-mass He-core WD stars harboring a range of H envelope thicknesses. Although there are currently nine ELMVs, here we only focus on those that exhibit more than three periods and whose periods do not show significant uncertainties. Methods. We considered g-mode adiabatic pulsation periods for low-mass He-core WD models with stellar masses in the range [0.1554–0.4352] M⊙, effective temperatures in the range [6000–10 000] K, and H envelope thicknesses in the interval −5.8 ≲ log(MH/M⋆)≲ −1.7. We explore the effects of employing different H-envelope thicknesses on the adiabatic pulsation properties of low-mass He-core WD models, and perform period-to-period fits to ELMV stars to search for a representative asteroseismological model. Results. We found that the mode-trapping effects of g modes depend sensitively on the value of MH, with the trapping cycle and trapping amplitude larger for thinner H envelopes. We also found that the asymptotic period spacing, ΔΠa, is longer for thinner H envelopes. Finally, we found asteroseismological models (when possible) for the stars under analysis, characterized by canonical (thick) and by thin H envelope. The effective temperature and stellar mass of these models are in agreement with the spectroscopic determinations. Conclusions. The fact that we have found asteroseismological solutions with H envelopes thinner than canonical gives a suggestion of the possible scenario of formation of these stars. Indeed, in the light of our results, some of these stars could have been formed by binary evolution through unstable mass loss.


Author(s):  
John J Eldridge

The study of the stars that explode as supernovae used to be a forensic study, working backwards from the remnants of the star. This changed in 1987 when the first progenitor star was identified in pre-explosion images. Currently, there are eight detected progenitors with another 21 non-detections, for which only a limit on the pre-explosion luminosity can be placed. This new avenue of supernova research has led to many interesting conclusions, most importantly that the progenitors of the most common supernovae, type IIP, are red supergiants, as theory has long predicted. However, no progenitors have been detected thus far for the hydrogen-free type Ib/c supernovae, which, given the expected progenitors, is an unlikely result. Also, observations have begun to show evidence that luminous blue variables, which are among the most massive stars, may directly explode as supernovae. These results contradict the current stellar evolution theory. This suggests that we may need to update our understanding.


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