The Beautiful Shapes of Planetary Nebulae and Theories About Their Formation

Planetary nebulae are formed when a small-to-medium mass star dies and puffs its outer atmosphere into space. Their many varied shapes are beautiful, ranging from bubbles, to rings, to bipolar lobes. Some have high velocity jets. In this talk I will discuss three planetary nebulae: NGC 6751, NGC 7026, and Hb 12. NGC 6751 consists of multiple shells and a bipolar outflow. NGC 7026 is an intricate, multi-polar planetary nebula with X-ray emission. Hb 12 is a gorgeous, hourglass planetary nebula with a tight waist. The data for NGC 6751 and NGC 7026 were acquired using the Manchester Echelle Spectrometer at San Pedro Matir Observatory in Baja California, Mexico. The data for Hb 12 were acquired using the integral field spectrograph NIFS on Gemini North. The analysis for NGC 6751 and NGC 7026 was done using the modeling program Shape. I will present the analysis for each object and then compare and contrast the findings.

Speaker: Dr. David Clark