What is the consequence of a binary companion capturing ejected gas from the primary star?
It can form an accretion disk around the companion, channeling the subsequent faster wind into two opposing jets.
When a binary companion is present, its gravitational effects are crucial in creating highly structured nebulae. If the companion captures some of the material being ejected by the dying primary star, it can aggregate this gas to form an accretion disk around itself. This disk fundamentally alters the subsequent outflow. As the hot core of the primary star begins blowing off a much faster wind, the accretion disk effectively channels this fast wind, directing it into highly collimated, opposing streams known as jets. This channeling process is a direct precursor to the widely observed bipolar shapes seen in many planetary nebulae, taking the initial spherical template and shearing or redirecting the flow.
