Molecular line imaging of young planetary nebulae

Valentin Bujarrabal

Observatorio Astronomico Nacional (OAN-IGN), Spain

High-resolution mapping of molecular lines in planetary nebulae (PNe) is one of the main tools to study these objects, particularly young nebulae, in which molecule-rich gas is the dominant component. Powerful instruments provide an accurate description of the spatial distribution and velocity fields of the nebular material. High-velocity bipolar outflows, usually slow and dense equatorial regions, bubbles, multiple ejections, and, in a few cases, Keplerian disks, are identified in the data. In more evolved PNe, molecules are abundant only in the densest regions, where they are protected from photodissociation due to the increasingly strong UV emission of the central star. Relevant observational data and their theoretical interpretation are summarized, stressing the high quality of recently obtained results.

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