Abstract
One of the most striking attributes of planetary nebulae are their complex, yet highly symmetric shapes. The process (es) which shape planetaries are only beginning to be understood. It is proposed that the morphologies of most PNs can be understood within the context of the “interacting winds” wherein a fast but light wind driven by the nucleus rams into an older, slower, and more massive wind, or red giant envelope (“RGE”) ejected earlier.
In order to explain the shapes of noncircular PNs, it seems necessary to hypothesize that the slow wind was originally ejected with an enhanced density along an equatorial plane. The morphologies of nearly all PNs can be understood through two basic parameters: the equatorial density contrast in their RGEs, and the degree of interaction between the fast and slow winds.
Visiting Astronomer, Kitt Peak National Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under contract with the National Science Foundation.
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Balick, B. (1989). The Shapes and Shaping of Planetary Nebulae. In: Torres-Peimbert, S. (eds) Planetary Nebulae. International Astronomical Union / Union Astronomique Internationale, vol 131. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0865-9_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0865-9_25
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