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We report an unbiased radio line survey towards the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars at the frequency range from 20 to 25 GHz, aiming to obtain a more complete unbiased picture of the chemical evolution in the final stages of stellar evolution. The observation sample includes the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star IRC+10216, the proto-planetary nebulae (PPNs) CRL\,2688 and CRL\,618, and the young planetary nebula (PN) NGC\,7027, representing an evolutionary sequence spanning about 10,000 years. Rotational transitions from cyanopolyyne chains and inversion lines from ammonia are detected in the AGB star and PPNs, while the PN displays several recombination lines. The different spectral behaviors of these evolved stars clearly reflect the evolution of circumstellar chemistry during the AGB-PPN-PN transitions., 37 pages. 8 figures, Accepted for publication in PASJ

Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI., We present narrowband near-infrared images of a sample of 11 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) obtained in the H 2.122 μm and Brγ 2.166 μm emission lines and the K 2.218 μm continuum. These images were collected with the Wide-field Infrared Camera on the 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT); their unprecedented depth and wide field of view allow us to find extended nebular structures in H emission in several PNe, some of these being the first detection. The nebular morphologies in H emission are studied in analogy with the optical images, and indication of stellar wind interactions is discussed. In particular, the complete structure of the highly asymmetric halo in NGC 6772 is witnessed in H, which strongly suggests interaction with the interstellar medium. Our sample confirms the general correlation between H emission and the bipolarity of PNe. The knotty or filamentary fine structures of the H gas are resolved in the inner regions of several ring-like PNe, also confirming the previous argument that H emission mostly comes from knots or clumps embedded within fully ionized material at the equatorial regions. Moreover, the H image of the butterfly-shaped Sh 1-89, after removal of field stars, clearly reveals a tilted ring structure at the waist. These high-quality CFHT images justify follow-up detailed morphokinematic studies that are desired in order to deduce the true physical structures of a few PNe in the sample.© 2018. The American Astronomical Society.© 2018. The American Astronomical Society., Part of the data presented here were obtained with ALFOSC, which is provided by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA-CSIC) under a joint agreement with the University of Copenhagen and NOSTA, and the 1.5 m telescope at San Pedro Martir of the National Astronomical Observatory (OAN) operated by Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). Financial support for this work was provided by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong under grant HKU 7027/11P C.-H.H. acknowledges financial support from the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macau (project No. 119/2017/A3 and 061/2017/A2). M.A.G. acknowledges support of the grant AYA 2014-57280-P, cofunded with FEDER funds. This research uses data obtained through the Telescope Access Program (TAP), which has been funded by the National Astronomical Observatories of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (the Strategic Priority Research Program >The Emergence of Cosmological Structures> Grant No. XDB09000000), and the Special Fund for Astronomy from the Ministry of Finance. This research made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France, and of NASA's Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services. We thank Quentin A. Parker and Foteini Lykou for their reading of the manuscript and comments. This research has made use of the HST archival data from MAST, the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Support for MAST for non-HST data is provided by the NASA Office of Space Science via grant NAG5-7584 and by other grants and contracts. This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This research also utilized the software SAOImage. DS9 (Joye & Mandel 2003) developed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Hubble 12 (Hb 12) is a young planetary nebula (PN) exhibiting nested shells. We present new near-infrared narrow-band imaging observations of Hb 12 using the Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). A number of co-axial rings aligned with the bipolar lobes and two pairs of separate H2 knots with different orientations are detected.

A method is proposed to reduce the field anisotropy inN-body calculations arising from the discretization of Poisson's equation in a particle-mesh scheme. Specifically, the mass is split (in addition to that employed in the mass assignment algorithm) over neighbouring points to create compensating higher-order multipoles. Improvement by factor 2 has been observed in the field calculations, and spurious geometric effects in the example of a 4000 particle free-fall collapse have been reduced.

We consider in this paper the evolution of a collapsing (or exploding), uniformly rotating, uniformly magnetized spheroidal star with non-aligned rotational and magnetic axes. Analytical expressions were obtained for the change in angle (obliquity) between the two axes (based on the frozen field condition), and the energy loss via magnetic, dipole radiation. Numerical estimates with typical data show that the obliquity increases (asymptotically to π/2) with the collapse from white dwarf to neutron star, and the energy loss could be as much as 4×1039 ergs, about twice the amount emitted when the two axes are aligned.

The Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) is a young double-shell planetary nebula (PN). Its intrinsic structure and the responsible shaping mechanism are still not fully understood. We present new optical spectroscopy of NGC 2392 at two different locations to obtain the spectra of the inner and outer shells. Several [Fe iii] lines are clearly detected. We find that these [Fe iii] lines mostly originate from the inner shell. Therefore, we suggest that NGC 2392 might have an intrinsic structure similar to the Ant Nebula Mz 3, which exhibits a number of [Fe iii] lines from the central dense regions. In this scenario, the inner and outer shells correspond to the central emission core and the outer lobes of Mz 3, respectively.

We report high angular resolution Hubble Space Telescope observations of 10 compact planetary nebulae (PNs). Many interesting internal structures, including multipolar lobes, arcs, two-dimensional rings, tori, and halos, are revealed for the first time. These results suggest that multipolar structures are common among PNs, and these structures develop early in their evolution. From three-dimensional geometric models, we have determined the intrinsic dimensions of the lobes. Assuming the lobes are the result of interactions between later-developed fast winds and previously ejected asymptotic giant branch winds, the geometric structures of these PNs suggest that there are multiple phases of fast winds separated by temporal variations and/or directional changes. A scenario of evolution from lobe-dominated to cavity-dominated stages is presented. The results reported here will provide serious constraints on any dynamical models of PNs.

We present a spectral line survey of the proto-planetary nebula AFGL 2688 in the frequency ranges of 71-111 GHz, 157-160 GHz, and 218-267 GHz using the Arizona Radio Observatory 12m telescope and the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope. A total of 143 individual spectral features associated with 32 different molecular species and isotopologues were identified. The molecules C3H, CH3CN, H2CO, H2CS, and HCO+ were detected for the first time in this object. By comparing the integrated line strengths of different transitions, we are able to determine the rotation temperatures, column densities, and fractional abundances of the detected molecules. The C, O, and N isotopic ratios in AFGL 2688 are compared with those in IRC+10216 and the Sun, and were found to be consistent with stellar nucleosynthesis theory. Through comparisons of molecular line strengths in asymptotic giant branch stars, proto-planetary nebulae, and planetary nebulae, we discuss the evolution in circumstellar chemistry in the late stages of evolution., Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present a {lambda}7 mm spectral line survey of the carbon-rich circumstellar envelope (CSE) CIT 6 using the 45 m telescope at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory. A total of 25 spectral features belonging to five molecular species (HC{sub 3}N, HC{sub 5}N, HC{sub 7}N, SiO, and CS) are detected, enabling us to investigate the chemistry of cyanopolyyne chains. The line strengths are compared with those of the proto-typical carbon-rich CSE IRC+10216. The results show that the cyanopolyyne molecules are enhanced in CIT 6, suggesting that it is more evolved than IRC+10216. In order to investigate the structure of CIT 6, we have constructed a three-dimensional spatiokinematic model. By comparing the observed line profiles with the models, we conclude that this envelope is asymmetric and is composed of several incomplete shells.