Modeling the cometary structure of the planetary nebula HFG1 based on the evolution of its binary central star V664 Cas

TL;DR

This study models the cometary structure of planetary nebula HFG1 through hydrodynamic simulations considering the evolution of its binary central star, revealing the importance of time-variable stellar winds in reproducing observed features.

Contribution

It introduces a time-variable stellar wind model based on AGB and post-AGB evolution, improving the understanding of HFG1's morphology and its relation to stellar evolution.

Findings

Best reproduced by a 3 Msun AGB star outflow model.

Time-variable stellar winds are essential for matching observed nebula features.

Distance of HFG1 estimated at 490 ± 50 pc.

Abstract

HFG1 is the first well observed planetary nebula (PN) which reveals a cometary-like structure. Its main morphological features consist of a bow shaped shell, which surrounds the central star, accompanied by a long collimated tail. In this study we perform two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations modeling the formation of HFG1 from the interaction of the local ambient medium with the mass outflows of its Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) progenitor star. We attribute the cometary appearance of HFG1 to the systemic motion of the PN with respect to the local ambient medium. Due to its vital importance, we re-estimate the distance of HFG1 by modeling the spectral energy distribution of its central star, V664 Cas, and we find a distance of $ 490 \pm 50$ pc. Our simulations show that none of our models with time invariant stellar wind and ambient medium properties are able to reproduce simultaneously the extended bow shock and the collimated tail observed in HFG1. Given this, we increase the complexity of our modeling considering that the stellar wind is time variable. The wind description is based on the predictions of the AGB and post-AGB evolution models. Testing a grid of models we find that the properties of HFG1 are best reproduced by the mass outflows of a 3 Msun AGB star. Such a scenario is consistent with the current observed properties of V664 Cas primary star, an O-type subdwarf, and bridges the evolutionary history of HFG1 central star with the observables of the PN. We discuss the implications of our study in the understanding of the evolution of AGB/post-AGB stars towards the formation of O-type subdwarfs surrounded by PNe.