Séminaire IPAG

---

Metamorphosis before entering the stellar graveyard : Post-AGB binaries as tracers of late stages of stellar evolution

jeudi 28 octobre 2021 - 11h00

Rajeev Manick - IPAG
--- 
At the end of their lives, low- to intermediate-mass stars will eject most of their atmosphere to create spectacular cosmic butterflies called planetary nebulae. At their heart lies a very hot star that ionises leftover gas to reveal an amazing variety of shapes. These shapes range from perfectly spherical bubbles, to very asymmetric shapes including bipolar, elliptical and point-symmetric structures. Exactly how these shapes are formed has been the subject of an intense scientific debate spanning almost thirty years. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that binary stars are the preferred explanation to this vexing problem. During the last few decades, we have carried out intense RV monitoring programmes to find these binaries and characterise their orbits to better understand binary evolution in late stages of stellar evolution. In this talk, I will give an overview of our findings and will also detail the knowns and unknowns of the impact of binarity on the post-AGB phase.

---

Hôtes : Benoît Cerutti

Salle Manuel Forestini, 414 rue de la piscine, 38400 Saint Martin d'Hères