On masses and ejection of planetary nebulae around PG 1159 stars

• Applicant: Dr. Thomas Rauch
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2002 to 2003
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5382776

The H-deficient PG 1159 stars are rosetta stones for the understanding of post-AGB evolution. At their hottest stage of evolution, they display the formation of white dwarfs: the nuclear burning is close to its end and gravitational effects will further dominate their evolution. Two facts make them ideal to check against evolutionary theory: firstly, 7 out of 27 known PG 1159 stars are pulsators; secondly, about every other PG 1159 star has an associated planetary nebula. We propose a detailed examination of these by imaging and spectroscopy in order to investigate a possible relation between the masses of central stars and their surrounding nebula, the ionization structure of the nebulae which displays the time-dependence of their ejection, and the chemical composition of the nebulae.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants