Search for: All records

We present a detailed study of the barium star at the heart of the planetary nebula Abell 70. Time-series photometry obtained over a period of more than 10 yr demonstrates that the barium-contaminated companion is a rapid rotator with temporal variability due to spots. The amplitude and phasing of the photometric variability change abruptly; however, there is no evidence for a change in the rotation period (P = 2.06 d) over the course of the observations. The co-addition of 17 high-resolution spectra obtained with Ultraviolet and Visual Échelle Spectrograph mounted on the Very Large Telescope allows us to measure the physical and chemical properties of the companion, confirming it to be a chromospherically active, late G-type sub-giant with more than +1 dex of barium enhancement. We find no evidence of radial velocity variability in the spectra, obtained over the course of approximately 130 d with a single additional point some 8 yr later, with the radial velocities of all epochs approximately −10 km s −1 from the previously measured systemic velocity of the nebula. This is perhaps indicative that the binary has a relatively long period (P ≳ 2 yr) and high eccentricity (e ≳ 0.3), and that all the observations were taken around radial velocity minimum. However, unless the binary orbital plane is not aligned with the waist of the nebula or the systemic velocity of the binary is not equal to the literature value for the nebula, this would imply an unfeasibly large mass for the nebular progenitor.

 

ABSTRACT Current models predict that binary interactions are a major ingredient in the formation of bipolar planetary nebulae (PNe) and pre-planetary nebulae (PPNe). Despite years of radial velocity (RV) monitoring, the paucity of known binaries amongst the latter systems means data are insufficient to examine this relationship in detail. In this work, we report on the discovery of a long-period (P = 2654 ± 124 d) binary at the centre of the Galactic bipolar PPN IRAS 08005−2356 (V510 Pup), determined from long-term spectroscopic and near-infrared time-series data. The spectroscopic orbit is fitted with an eccentricity of 0.36 ± 0.05, which is similar to that of other long-period post-AGB binaries. Time-resolved Hα profiles reveal high-velocity outflows (jets) with deprojected velocities up to 231$_{-27}^{+31}$ km s−1 seen at phases when the luminous primary is behind the jet. The outflow traced by Hα is likely produced via accretion on to a main-sequence companion, for which we calculate a mass of 0.63 ± 0.13 M⊙. This discovery is one of the first cases of a confirmed binary PPN and demonstrates the importance of high-resolution spectroscopic monitoring surveys using large telescopes in revealing binarity among these systems.