14.03.2017
Brent Miszalski
(South Afriacn Astronomical Observatory)
Close binary central stars of planetary nebulae
STRESZCZENIE
Planetary Nebulae (PNe) are a brief phase in the lives of low to intermediate mass stars where the atmosphere of an asymptotic giant branch star is ejected and ionised by the hot leftover core that eventually becomes a white dwarf. They appear in an extremely wide variety of shapes, but exactly how they are shaped into such a diverse range of morphologies is still highly uncertain despite over thirty years of vigorous debate. Binaries have long been thought to offer a solution to this vexing problem, but only now we are beginning to understand the important role that a binary channel, in particular common-envelope (CE) evolution, plays in the formation of a large fraction of PNe. I'll give an overview of results in this area and show how binary central stars are connected to many other aspects of stellar astrophysics. An important corollary of this work has been the much improved understanding of jets in PNe. I'll conclude the talk with highlights of results from observations with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) aimed at discovering more unusual binary central stars.
O PRELEGENCIE
Dr Brent Miszalski is a SALT astronomer at the South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town, South Africa. He completed his PhD at Macquarie University in Australia and Observatoire de Strasbourg in France in 2009.