(Sub)stellar companions shape the winds of evolved stars.

Leen DecinM MontargèsA M S RichardsC A GottliebW Homan Iain McDonald I El Mellah T Danilovich S H J Wallström A Zijlstra A Baudry J Bolte E CannonE De BeckF De Ceuster Alexander de Koter J De Ridder S Etoka D Gobrecht M Gray F Herpin M Jeste E Lagadec Pierre Kervella T Khouri Karl M Menten Tom J Millar Holger S P Müller John M C Plane R Sahai Hugues Sana Marie Van de Sande L B F M Waters K T Wong J Yates

Published in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2020)

Binary interactions dominate the evolution of massive stars, but their role is less clear for low- and intermediate-mass stars. The evolution of a spherical wind from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star into a nonspherical planetary nebula (PN) could be due to binary interactions. We observed a sample of AGB stars with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and found that their winds exhibit distinct nonspherical geometries with morphological similarities to planetary nebulae (PNe). We infer that the same physics shapes both AGB winds and PNe; additionally, the morphology and AGB mass-loss rate are correlated. These characteristics can be explained by binary interaction. We propose an evolutionary scenario for AGB morphologies that is consistent with observed phenomena in AGB stars and PNe.

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