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Register a new userThe hot white dwarf in the peculiar binary nucleus of the planetary nebula EGB6
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EGB6 is an extended, faint old planetary nebula (PN) with an enigmatic nucleus. The central star (PG0950+139) is a hot DAOZ-type white dwarf (WD). An unresolved, compact emission knot was discovered to be located 0.166 away from the WD and it was shown to be centered around a dust-enshrouded low-luminosity star. It was argued that the dust disk and evaporated gas (photoionized by the hot WD) around the companion are remnants of a disk formed by wind material captured from the WD progenitor when it was an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. In this paper, we assess the hot WD to determine its atmospheric and stellar parameters. We performed a model-atmosphere analysis of ultraviolet (UV) and optical spectra. We found Teff = 105,000 +/- 5000 K, log g = 7.4 +/- 0.4, and a solar helium abundance (He = 0.25 +/- 0.1, mass fraction). We measured the abundances of ten more species (C, N, O, F, Si, P, S, Ar, Fe, Ni) and found essentially solar abundance values, indicating that radiation-driven wind mass-loss, with a theoretical rate of log(dot-M/M_sun/yr) = -11.0 (+1.1)(-0.8) prevents the gravitational separation of elements in the photosphere. The WD has a mass of M/M_sun = 0.58 (+0.12)(-0.04) and its post-AGB age (log(t_evol/yr) = 3.60 (+1.26)(-0.09)) is compatible with the PN kinematical age of log(t_PN}/yr) = 4.2. In addition, we examined the UV spectrum of the hot nucleus of a similar object with a compact emission region, TOL26 (PN G298.0+34.8), and found that it is a slightly cooler DAOZ WD (Teff about 85,000 K), but this WD shows signatures of gravitational settling of heavy elements.
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EGB 6 is a faint, large, ancient planetary nebula (PN). Its central star, a hot DAOZ white dwarf (WD), is a prototype of a rare class of PN nuclei associated with dense, compact emission-line knots. The central star also shows excess fluxes in both the near- (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR). In a 2013 paper, we used Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images to show that the compact nebula is a point-like source, located 0.16 (~118 AU) from the WD. We attributed the NIR excess to an M dwarf companion star, which appeared to coincide with the dense emission knot. We now present new ground-based NIR spectroscopy, showing that the companion is actually a much cooler source with a continuous spectrum, apparently a dust-enshrouded low-luminosity star. New HST images confirm common proper motion of the emission knot and red source with the WD. The I-band, NIR, and MIR fluxes are variable, possibly on timescales as short as days. We can fit the spectral-energy distribution with four blackbodies (the WD, a ~1850 K NIR component, and MIR dust at 385 and 175 K). Alternatively, we show that the NIR/MIR SED is very similar to that of Class 0/I young stellar objects. We suggest a scenario in which the EGB 6 nucleus is descended from a wide binary similar to the Mira system, in which a portion of the wind from an AGB star was captured into an accretion disk around a companion star; a remnant of this disk has survived to the present time, and is surrounded by gas photoionized by UV radiation from the WD.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected relatively hard X-ray emission from the central stars of several planetary nebulae (PNe). A subset have no known late-type companions, making it very difficult to isolate which of several competing mechanisms may be producing the X-ray emission. The central star of NGC 2392 is one of the most vexing members, with substantial indirect evidence for a hot white dwarf (WD) companion. Here we report on the results of a radial velocity (RV) monitoring campaign of its central star with the HERMES echelle spectrograph of the Flemish 1.2 m Mercator telescope. We discover a single-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of $1.902208pm0.000013$ d and a RV semi-amplitude of $9.96pm0.13$ km/s. The high degree of nebula ionisation requires a WD companion ($Mgtrsim0.6 M_odot$), which the mass-function supports at orbital inclinations $lesssim$7 deg, in agreement with the nebula orientation of 9 deg. The hard component of the X-ray spectrum may be explained by the companion accreting mass from the wind of the Roche lobe filling primary, while the softer component may be due to colliding winds. A companion with a stronger wind than the primary could produce the latter and would be consistent with models of the observed diffuse X-ray emission detected in the nebula. The diffuse X-rays may also be powered by the jets of up to 180 km/s and active accretion would imply that they could be the first active jets of a post-common-envelope PN, potentially making NGC 2392 an invaluable laboratory to study jet formation physics. The 1.9 d orbital period rules out a double-degenerate merger leading to a Type Ia supernova and the weak wind of the primary likely also precludes a single-degenerate scenario. We suggest that a hard X-ray spectrum, in the absence of a late-type companion, could be a powerful tool to identify accreting WD companions.
We report the discovery of an extremely close, eclipsing binary system. A white dwarf is orbited by a core He-burning compact hot subdwarf star with a period as short as $simeq0.04987 {rm d}$ making this system the most compact hot subdwarf binary discovered so far. The subdwarf will start to transfer helium-rich material on short timescales of less than $50 {rm Myr}$. The ignition of He-burning at the surface may trigger carbon-burning in the core although the WD is less massive than the Chandrasekhar limit ($>0.74,M_{rm odot}$) making this binary a possible progenitor candidate for a supernova type Ia event.
We present a detailed investigation of SBS1150+599A, a close binary star hosted by the planetary nebula PN G135.9+55.9 (TS01, Stasinska et al, 2009). The nebula, located in the Galactic halo, is the most oxygen-poor one known to date and is the only one known to harbor a double degenerate core. We present XMM-Newton observations of this object, which allowed the detection of the previously invisible component of the binary core, whose existence was inferred so far only from radial velocity and photometric variations. The parameters of the binary system were deduced from a wealth of information via three independent routes using the spectral energy distribution (from the infrared to X-rays), the light and radial velocity curves, and a detailed model atmosphere fitting of the stellar absorption features of the optical/UV component. We find that the cool component must have a mass of 0.54+/-0.2 Msun, an average effective temperature, Teff, of 58000+/-3000 K, a mean radius of 0.43+/-0.3 Rsun, a gravity log g=5.0+/-0.3, and that it nearly fills its Roche lobe. Its surface elemental abundances are found to be: 12 + log He/H = 10.95+/-0.04 dex, 12 + log C/H = 7.20+/-0.3 dex, 12 + log N/H < 6.92 and 12 + log O/H < 6.80, in overall agreement with the chemical composition of the planetary nebula. The hot component has Teff = 160-180 kK, a luminosity of about ~10e4 Lsun and a radius slightly larger than that of a white dwarf. It is probably bloated and heated as a result of intense accretion and nuclear burning on its surface in the past. The total mass of the binary system is very close to Chandrasekhar limit. This makes TS01 one of the best type Ia supernova progenitor candidates. We propose two possible scenarios for the evolution of the system up to its present stage.
We have conducted a detailed multi-wavelength study of the peculiar nebula Abell 48 and its central star. We classify the nucleus as a helium-rich, hydrogen-deficient star of type [WN4-5]. The evidence for either a massive WN or a low-mass [WN] interpretation is critically examined, and we firmly conclude that Abell 48 is a planetary nebula (PN) around an evolved low-mass star, rather than a Population I ejecta nebula. Importantly, the surrounding nebula has a morphology typical of PNe, and is not enriched in nitrogen, and thus not the `peeled atmosphere of a massive star. We estimate a distance of 1.6 kpc and a reddening, E(B-V) = 1.90 mag, the latter value clearly showing the nebula lies on the near side of the Galactic bar, and cannot be a massive WN star. The ionized mass (~0.3 M_Sun) and electron density (700 cm^-3) are typical of middle-aged PNe. The observed stellar spectrum was compared to a grid of models from the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) grid. The best fit temperature is 71 kK, and the atmospheric composition is dominated by helium with an upper limit on the hydrogen abundance of 10 per cent. Our results are in very good agreement with the recent study of Todt et al., who determined a hydrogen fraction of 10 per cent and an unusually large nitrogen fraction of ~5 per cent. This fraction is higher than any other low-mass H-deficient star, and is not readily explained by current post-AGB models. We give a discussion of the implications of this discovery for the late-stage evolution of intermediate-mass stars. There is now tentative evidence for two distinct helium-dominated post-AGB lineages, separate to the helium and carbon dominated surface compositions produced by a late thermal pulse. Further theoretical work is needed to explain these recent discoveries.
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