Science with the ngVLA: Planetary Nebulae

TL;DR

The paper discusses how the next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) can significantly advance understanding of planetary nebulae, their origins, and their role in stellar evolution and interstellar medium enrichment.

Contribution

It highlights specific ways the ngVLA will improve observations of planetary nebulae, revealing details about binary influences, plasma physics, and chemical processes.

Findings

ngVLA will enable detailed imaging of PNe structures

It will help study binary star impacts on PNe formation

The observations will shed light on stellar wind interactions and ISM enrichment

Abstract

Planetary nebulae (PNe) represent the near endpoints of evolution for stars of initial mass $\sim$1-8 $M_\odot$, wherein the envelope of an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star becomes photodissociated and ionized by high-energy radiation from a newly emerging white dwarf that was the progenitor star's core. It is increasingly evident that most PNe are descended from binary systems. PNe hence provide unique insight into a diverse range of astrophysical phenomena, including the influence of companion stars on the late stages of stellar evolution; stellar wind interactions and shocks; the physics and chemistry of photoionized plasmas and photon-dominated regions (PDRs); and enrichment of the ISM in the products of intermediate-mass stellar nucleosynthesis. We describe specific examples of the potential impact of the ngVLA in each of these areas.