Abell 30 -- A Binary Central Star Among the Born-Again Planetary Nebulae

TL;DR

This paper presents evidence of a binary central star in Abell 30, a born-again planetary nebula with extreme abundance discrepancies, supporting the link between binary stars and these abundance anomalies.

Contribution

The discovery of light curve variations indicating a binary central star in Abell 30, linking binary interactions to born-again planetary nebulae with extreme abundance discrepancies.

Findings

Detected 1.060-day brightness variations suggesting a binary star

Supports the hypothesis linking binary stars to abundance discrepancy phenomena

Abell 30 exhibits extreme abundance discrepancy factors

Abstract

Eight planetary nebulae have been identified as `born-again', a class of object typified by knotty secondary ejecta having low masses ($\sim$$10^{-4}$ M$_{\odot}$) with nearly no hydrogen. Abell 30, the archetype of the class, also belongs to a small subset of planetary nebulae that exhibit extreme abundance discrepancy factors (where Abell 30 is the most extreme), a phenomenon strongly linked to binary star interactions. We report the presence of light curve brightness variations having a period of 1.060 days that are highly suggestive of a binary central star in Abell 30. If confirmed, this detection supports the proposed link between binary central stars and extreme abundance discrepancies.