Bibcode
DOI
García-Segura, G.; López, J. A.; Steffen, W.; Meaburn, J.; Manchado, A.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 646, Issue 1, pp. L61-L64.
Advertised on:
7
2006
Journal
Citations
35
Refereed citations
31
Description
We explore the dynamics of ionization-bounded planetary nebulae after
the termination of the fast stellar wind. When the stellar wind becomes
negligible, the hot, shocked bubble depressurizes, and the thermal
pressure of the photoionized region, at the inner edge of the swept-up
shell, becomes dominant. At this stage the shell tends to fragment,
creating clumps with comet-like tails and long, photoionized trails in
between, while the photoionized material expands back toward the central
stars as a rarefaction wave. Once the photoionized gas fills the inner
cavity, it develops a kinematical pattern of increasing velocity from
the center outward, with a typical range of velocities starting from the
systemic velocity to ~50 km s-1 at the edges. The Helix
Nebula is a clear example of a planetary nebula at this late
evolutionary stage.