Letter to the Editor

White dwarf masses derived from planetary nebula modelling^*

¹ Centrum Astronomii UMK, ul. Gagarina 11, 87-100  Torun, Poland e-mail: Krzysztof.Gesicki@astri.uni.torun.pl
² School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD, UK e-mail: a.zijlstra@manchester.ac.uk

Received: 7 February 2007
Accepted: 15 March 2007

Abstract

Aims.We compare the mass distribution of central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe) with those of their progeny, white dwarfs (WD).

Methods.We use a dynamical method to measure masses with an uncertainty of 0.02 .

Results.The CSPN mass distribution is sharply peaked at . The WD distribution peaks at lower masses () and shows a much broader range of masses. Some of the difference can be explained if the early post-AGB evolution is faster than predicted by the Blöcker tracks. Between 30 and 50 per cent of WD may avoid the PN phase because they have too low a mass. However, the discrepancy cannot be fully resolved and WD mass distributions may have been broadened by observational or model uncertainties.