Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-02T19:37:27.341Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Theory of Evolution of the Central Star

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2016

Giora Shaviv*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The fundamental feature of the evolution of the central star of planetary nebulae (CPN) is the cooling of the core towards a white dwarf. The basic observations were made by O'Dell (1963), Seaton (1966), and Harman and Seaton (1964); namely, they discovered a correlation between the linear size of the nebula and the position of the CNP in the HR diagram. Typical values for the velocity of expansion are 10–30 km/sec and the largest size observed for a nebula is ∼0.6 pc and hence the lifetime is 2–6 × 104 years. From a theoretical point of view the important fact about the Harman-Seaton sequence (HS) is the implication on the evolution of the central star. The star first heats up, L and Te increase, then L decreases. But Te keeps increasing until finally Te decreases also (shown schematically in Figure 2). Thus the HS is an evolutionary sequence and not a locus of stars.

Type
Session IV: The Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1978 

References

Deinzer, W. and Sengburch, K.V. (1970) Ap.J. 160, 671.Google Scholar
O'Dell, C.R. (1963), Ap.J. 138, 67.Google Scholar
Seaton, M. (1966), M.N.R.A.S. 132, 113.Google Scholar
Harman, R.J. and Seaton, M. (1964), Ap.J. 140, 824.Google Scholar
Joss, P.C.; Katz, J.I.; Malone, R.C. and Salpeter, E.E. (1973), Ap.J., 181, 409.Google Scholar
Katz, J.K., Malone, R.C. and Salpeter, E.E. (1974), Ap.J., 190, 359.Google Scholar
Kovetz, A. and Shaviv, G. (1976) Astron. Astrophys. 52, 403.Google Scholar
Paczyński, B., (1970), Acta Astr. 20, 47, (1972), ibid. 27, 417.Google Scholar
Härm, R. and Schwarzschild, M. (1975), Ap.J., 200, 324.Google Scholar