Binary Nature Revealed in Circumstellar Spiral-Shell Patterns

With the advent of high-resolution high-sensitivity observations, spiral patterns have been revealed around several asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Such patterns can provide possible evidence for the existence of central binary stars embedded in outflowing circumstellar envelopes. It is, however, not generally recognized that the binary induced pattern, vertically extended from the orbital plane, exhibits a ring-like pattern with an inclined viewing angle. I will first review the binary-induced spiral-shell patterns on the AGB circumstellar envelopes with the effect of inclination angle with respect to the orbital plane, of which large inclination cases reveal incomplete ring-like patterns. I will describe a method of extracting such spiral-shell from the gas kinematics of an incomplete ring-like pattern to place constraints on the characteristics of the (unknown) central binary stars. This first success may open the possibility of connecting the ring-like patterns commonly found in the AGB circumstellar envelopes and in the outer parts of (pre-)planetary nebulae and pointing to the conceivable presence of central binary systems, which may give a clue for the onset of asymmetrical planetary nebulae.