Jets are the most robust observable ingredient of common envelope evolution

TL;DR

Jets are a common and robust feature in common envelope evolution, significantly influencing the process and outcomes, yet are often neglected in simulations.

Contribution

This paper highlights the prevalence of jets in CEE and emphasizes the need to include jets in hydrodynamical simulations for accurate modeling.

Findings

Jets are about 40% more common than dense equatorial outflows.

Jets influence envelope mass removal and orbital separation.

Most jets are launched by main sequence companions during CEE.

Abstract

I examine images of 50 planetary nebulae (PNe) with observable post-common envelope evolution (CEE) binary central stars and find that jets are about 40 percent more common than dense equatorial outflows. Because, in some cases, energetic jets can compress an equatorial outflow and because fast jets might disperse early in the PN evolution and avoid detection, the CEE process is likelier to launch jets than to eject a dense equatorial outflow by a larger factor than 1.4. In most cases, the companion, mainly a main sequence star, launches the jets as it accretes mass from the envelope of the giant star. By CEE jets, I also refer to jets launched shortly before the onset of the CEE, likely a grazing envelope evolution phase, and shortly after the CEE. The jets and the accretion of mass by the companion before, during, and after the CEE affect envelope mass removal and the final orbital separation. Most numerical simulations of the CEE ignore jets, and those that include jets omit other processes. Despite the considerable progress in the last decade with tens of hydrodynamical simulations of the CEE, we are still far from correctly simulating the CEE. Including jets in simulations of the CEE requires heavy computer resources, but it must be the next step.