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We report the serendipitous detection of the planetary nebula NGC 5315 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The Chandra imaging spectroscopy results indicate that the X-rays from this PN, which harbors a Wolf-Rayet (WR) central star, emanate from a T X ∼ 2.5 × 10 6 K plasma generated via the same windwind collisions that have cleared a compact (∼ 8000 AU radius) central cavity within the nebula. The inferred X-ray luminosity of NGC 5315 is ∼ 2.5 × 10 32 erg s −1 (0.3-2.0 keV), placing this object among the most luminous such "hot bubble" X-ray sources yet detected within PNe. With the X-ray detection of NGC 5315, objects with WR-type central stars now constitute a clear majority -2of known examples of diffuse X-ray sources among PNe; all such "hot bubble" PN X-ray sources display well-defined, quasi-continuous optical rims. We therefore assert that X-ray-luminous hot bubbles are characteristic of young PNe with large central star wind kinetic energies and closed bubble morphologies. However, the evidence at hand also suggests that processes such as wind and bubble temporal evolution, as well as heat conduction and/or mixing of hot bubble and nebular gas, ultimately govern the luminosity and temperature of superheated plasma within PNe.

We have mapped the 12 CO(3-2) line emission around the Mira AB system at 0. 5 resolution using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The CO map shows amazing complexity. The circumstellar gas has been shaped by different dynamical actors during the evolution of the system, and several morphological components can be identified. The companion is marginally resolved in continuum emission and is currently at 0. 487 ± 0. 006 separation. In the main line component, centered on the stellar velocity, spiral arcs around Mira A are found. The spiral appears to be relatively flat and oriented in the orbital plane. An accretion wake behind the companion is clearly visible, and the projected arc separation is about 5 . In the blue wing of the line emission, offset from the main line, several large (∼5-10 ) opposing arcs are found. We tentatively suggest that this structure is created by the wind of Mira B blowing a bubble in the expanding envelope of Mira A.

Close binary systems undergoing mass transfer or common envelope interactions can account for the morphological properties of some planetary nebulae. The search for close binary companions in planetary nebulae is hindered by the difficulty of detecting cool, late-type, main sequence companions in binary systems with hot pre-white dwarf primaries. However, models of binary PN progenitor systems predict that mass accretion or tidal interactions can induce rapid rotation in the companion, leading to X-ray-emitting coronae. To test such models, we have searched for, and detected, X-ray emission from three binary central stars within planetary nebulae: the post-common envelope close binaries in HFG 1 and DS 1 consisting of O-type subdwarfs with late-type, main sequence companions, and the binary system in LoTr 5 consisting of O-type subdwarf and rapidly rotating, late-type giant companion. The X-ray emission in each case is best characterized by spectral models consisting of two optically-thin thermal plasma components with characteristic temperatures of ∼ 10 MK and 15-40 MK, and total X-ray luminosities ∼ 10 30 erg s −1 . We consider the possible origin of the X-ray emission from these binary systems and conclude that the most likely origin is, in each case, a corona around the late-type companion, as predicted by models of interacting binaries.

We present the results of Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) observations of the planetary nebulae (PNs) NGC 40 and Hen 2-99. Both PNs feature late-type Wolf-Rayet central stars that are presently driving fast (∼ 1000 km s −1 ), massive winds into denser, slow-moving (∼10 km s −1 ) material ejected during recently terminated asymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolutionary phases. Hence, these observations provide key tests of models of wind-wind interactions in PNs. In NGC 40, we detect faint, diffuse X-ray emission distributed within a partial annulus that lies nested within a ∼ 40 ′′ diameter ring of nebulosity observed in optical and near-infrared images. Hen 2-99 is undetected. The inferred X-ray temperature (T X ∼ 10 6 K) and luminosity (L X ∼ 2 × 10 30 ergs s −1 ) of NGC 40 are the lowest measured thus far for any PN displaying diffuse X-ray emission. These results, combined with the ring-like morphology of the X-ray emission -2 -from NGC 40, suggest that its X-ray emission arises from a "hot bubble" that is highly evolved and is generated by a shocked, quasi-spherical fast wind from the central star, as opposed to AGB or post-AGB jet activity. In constrast, the lack of detectable X-ray emission from Hen 2-99 suggests that this PN has yet to enter a phase of strong wind-wind shocks.