The Survival of Planetary Nebulae in the Intracluster Medium
E. Villaver1 and L. Stanghellini2
1StScI, Baltimore, MD, USA
2NOAO, Tucson, AZ, USA
Tidal disruption in clusters of galaxies, due to galaxy-to-galaxy
interactions or to the cluster core potential, produce a diffuse
intracluster
(IC) population. Individual members of the observed IC population include
red
giants, Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, Planetary Nebulae (PNe), and
Type Ia Supernovae. These stars evolve under the extreme conditions imposed
by the IC medium, that is, a high systemic velocity through a very hot and
rarefied medium. The evolution of the AGB and PN gaseous
envelopes must be affected by this environment. We present simulations of
the evolution of an AGB star and PN under the conditions of the IC medium.
We
confirm the survival of PNe and AGB circumstellar envelopes in such an
extreme environment, and examine the effects on the PNe shells. Ultimately
we aim to test if what we know about the resolved population of PNe in our
Galaxy and nearby galaxies can be applied to PNe in the IC medium.