Sliding along the Eddington Limit—Heavy-Weight Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae

Abstract

Due to thermal pulses, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars experience periods of convective mixing that provide ideal conditions for slow neutron-capture nucleosynthesis. These processes are affected by large uncertainties and are still not fully understood. By the lucky coincidence that about a quarter of all post-AGB stars turn hydrogen-deficient in a final flash of the helium-burning shell, they display nuclear processed material at the surface providing an unique insight to nucleosynthesis and mixing. We present results of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium spectral analyses of the extremely hot, hydrogen-deficient, PG 1159-type central stars of the Skull Nebula NGC 246 and the “Galactic Soccerballs” Abell 43 and NGC 7094.

Keywords

• stars: abundances
• stars: AGB and post-AGB
• stars: atmospheres
• stars: individual: WD 0044–121
• stars: individual: WD 2134+25
• stars: individual: WD 1751+106