The Importance of Binaries in the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Nebulae

Henri Boffin received his PhD in 1993 for his work on the formation of barium stars and has since studied a variety of problems in relation to binary stars, as well as exoplanets. Most recently, he has shown the importance of binary stars in explaining planetary nebulae, including discovering the binary central star of Fleming 1, and pioneered the use of optical interferometry to study mass transfer in symbiotic stars. He is co-author of more than 100 referred papers and co-editor of 5 books. He was credited the discovery of 11 asteroids. Since 2003 he works at the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

David Jones received his PhD in 2011, from the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, for his work on the morphologies and kinematics of planetary nebulae. He has also worked at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory, the Universidad de Atacama and the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, and is currently based at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) on the Spanish island of La Palma. He is the author of more than 50 refereed papers covering topics ranging from near-Earth asteroids to type Ia supernovae. Since 2018, he is a member of the organizing committee of the International Astronomical Union's Planetary Nebulae commission.