X-Ray Emission by A Shocked Fast Wind from the Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae

We calculate the X-ray emission from the shocked fast wind blown by the central stars of planetary nebulae (PNs) and compare with observations. Using spherically symmetric self similar solutions, we calculate the flow structure and X-ray temperature for a fast wind slamming into a previously ejected slow wind. We find that the observed X-ray emission of six PNs can be accounted for by shocked wind segments that were expelled during the early PN phase, if the fast wind speed is moderate, v_2~400-600 km/sec, and the mass loss rate is a few times 10^{-7} Mo/year. We find, as proposed previously, that the morphology of the X-ray emission is in the form of a narrow ring inner to the optical bright part of the nebula. The bipolar X-ray morphology of several observed PNs, which indicates an important role of jets rather than a spherical fast wind, cannot be explained by the flow studied here.