Bibcode
Jones, D.; Lloyd, M.; Santander-García, M.; López, J. A.; Meaburn, J.; Mitchell, D. L.; O'Brien, T. J.; Pollacco, P.; Rubio-Díez, M. M.; Vaytet N. M. H.
Bibliographical reference
Asymmetric Planetary Nebulae 5 conference, held in Bowness-on-Windermere, U.K., 20 - 25 June 2010, A. A. Zijlstra, F. Lykou, I. McDonald, and E. Lagadec, eds. (2011) Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics
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2011
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
We present the first detailed spatio-kinematical analysis and modelling
of the planetary nebula Abell 41, which is known to contain the
well-studied close-binary system MT Ser. This object represents an
important test case in the study of the evolution of planetary nebulae
with binary central stars as current evolutionary theories predict that
the binary plane should be aligned perpendicular to the symmetry axis of
the nebula. Longslit observations of the NII emission from Abell 41 were
obtained using the Manchester Echelle Spectrometer on the 2.1-m San
Pedro Mártir Telescope. These spectra, combined with deep,
narrowband imagery acquired using ACAM on the William Herschel
Telescope, were used to develop a spatio-kinematical model of NII
emission from Abell 41. The best fitting model reveals Abell 41 to have
a waisted, bipolar structure with an expansion velocity of ˜40
km/s at the waist. The symmetry axis of the model nebula is within
5° of perpendicular to the orbital plane of the central binary
system. This provides strong evidence that the close-binary system, MT
Ser, has directly affected the shaping of its host nebula, Abell 41.