Shape, Structure, and Morphology in Planetary Nebulae

TL;DR

Recent advances in high-resolution imaging and modeling have revitalized the study of planetary nebulae morphology, enhancing understanding of their formation and evolution.

Contribution

The paper reviews recent progress in planetary nebulae morphology studies and highlights how this approach has advanced knowledge in the last five years.

Findings

Improved imaging techniques have revealed diverse PN structures.

Models of PN and central star co-evolution have become more sophisticated.

Morphological studies continue to inform theories of PN formation.

Abstract

A revival over the past two decades in planetary nebula (PN) morphological studies springs from a combination of factors, including the advent of wide-area, high dynamic range detectors; the growing archives of high resolution images from the X-ray to the sub-mm; and the advent of sophisticated models of the co-evolution of PNe and their central stars. Yet the story of PN formation from their immediate precursors, the AGB stars, is not yet fully written. PN morphology continues to inspire, provide context for physical interpretation, and serve as an ultimate standard of comparison for many investigations in this area of astrophysics. After a brief review of the remarkable successes of PN morphology, I summarize how this tool has been employed over the last half-decade to advance our understanding of PNe.