New models for the evolution of central stars of planetary nebulae: Faster and Brighter

TL;DR

This paper discusses new, faster, and brighter models for the evolution of central stars of planetary nebulae, highlighting their implications for understanding post-AGB star evolution.

Contribution

It introduces updated post-AGB evolutionary models that are significantly faster and brighter than previous models, affecting related astrophysical research.

Findings

Models are 3-10 times faster than previous ones.

New models are 0.1-0.3 dex brighter.

Implications for studies of post-AGB stars and planetary nebulae.

Abstract

The post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase is arguably one of the least understood phases of the evolution of low- and intermediate- mass stars. The recent post-AGB evolutionary sequences computed by Miller Bertolami (2016) are at least three to ten times faster than those previously published by Vassiliadis & Wood (1994) and Bloecker (1995) which have been used in a large number of studies. This is true for the whole mass and metallicity range. The new models are also $\sim$0.1-0.3 dex brighter than the previous models with similar remnant masses. In this short article we comment on the main reasons behind these differences, and discuss possible implications for other studies of post-AGB stars or planetary nebulae.