Modeling Close Binary Systems Within Planetary Nebulae

Level of Education of Students Involved

Undergraduate

Faculty Sponsor

Todd Hillwig

College

Arts and Sciences

Discipline(s)

Physics and Astronomy

ORCID Identifier(s)

0009-0004-3865-113X

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-25-2024

Abstract

Many fascinating and important processes in space occur in binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and a companion star in a very close orbit. Because of this, understanding this type of system is important to our overall understanding of our universe. These binary systems are born within planetary nebulae. However, only 26 such systems within planetary nebulae have been fully modeled, which isn't a large enough number to result in meaningful statistical data. In order to work towards increasing this number, I used the PHOEBE modeling software to obtain ranges for the secondary temperature, primary and secondary radii, secondary albedo, and system inclination for the close binary system in the planetary nebula Hf2-2. I constrained the primary temperature to a 20 kK range based on a previously published spectrum analysis, while both of the masses were held constant due to not having radial velocities available. I present here the resulting ranges for the parameters.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

Lilly Blanton is a sophomore majoring in Astronomy with a minor in Mathematics and a student of the Christ College. She has wanted to pursue astrophysics research since fifth grade after a school project, and gladly took the opportunity to do so at Valparaiso University during the summer of 2023. This is her first research project, but she hopes to perform more astrophysics research in the future, including in the summer of 2024. Her final goal is to obtain a PhD in astrophysics and perform her own original research.

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