X-ray emission from jet-wind interaction in planetary nebulae

We conduct 2D numerical simulations of jets expanding into the slow wind of asymptotic giant branch stars. We show that the post-shock jets' material can explain the observed extended X-ray emission from some planetary nebulae (PNs). Such jets are thought to shape many PNs, and therefore it is expected that this process will contribute to the X-ray emission from some PNs. In other PNs (not simulated in this work) the source of the extended X-ray emission is the shocked spherical wind blown by the central star. In a small fraction of PNs both sources might contribute, and a two-temperatures gas will fit better the X-ray properties than a one-temperature gas. A spatial separation between these two components is expected. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.