Zijlstra, A. A. ; Hajduk, M. ; Herwig, F. ; van Hoof, P. ; Kerber, F.

published in Planetary Nebulae as Astronomical Tools, 804, pp. 183-186 (2005)

Abstract: The discovery of Sakurai's Object, in 1996, provided the first modern observations of a very late thermal pulse. Models predicted that it would become a born-again planetary nebula over a few hundred years. It is however evolving very much faster: the first radio detection shows that ionization of the envelope has already started. To reproduce its unexpectedly fast evolution, we have developed a model in which convective mixing is strongly suppressed under the influence of flash burning. A strong prediction of this model is that the star will evolve back to very high temperatures at equally accelerated time scales. A CLOUDY photoionization model of the hydrogen-poor nebula indicates an ionized ejecta (carbon) mass of ~ 10-3 Msolar, indicating that born-again objects may be significant contributors to carbonaceous dust in the galaxy.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2146270
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