Is the Central Star of K 648 in M15 a Close Binary?

Details Is the Central Star of K 648 in M15 a Close Binary? Is the Central Star of K 648 in M15 a Close Binary?

Jul 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996hst..prop.6751b&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #6751

Physics

Hst Proposal Id #6751 Binaries And Star Formation

Scientific paper

The planetary nebula K 648 is a member of the globular cluster M15, and is one of only three PNe known in Galactic globular clusters. Pre-repair HST images reveal that the nebula is strongly elliptical in shape, and shows blobs on either side of the central star, similar to those seen around PNe in the field that contain close-binary nuclei. Moreover, our study of archival frames of M15 suggests that the central star of K 648 may be variable. We propose to obtain a series of WFPC2 images of K 648 in U, B, V, and I, in order to ascertain whether the central star is a close binary, and if so to determine its period and analyze its light curve. Close-binary central stars in PNe provide the most direct evidence for common-envelope {CE} evolution. Determination of the binary system parameters in a globular cluster, where we know the age, distance, and progenitor masses, would provide completely unique constraints on CE physics. The observations, if successful, would establish the existence of the first pre-cataclysmic binary in a globular cluster, and would shed light on the current problem that recent HST observations are revealing fewer cataclysmic variables in globular clusters than expected from dynamical capture processes.

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