The occasional appearance of a red giant or long-period variable in planetary nebulae poses a problem for theoretical astrophysics. Such a cool nuclear star would not ordinarily provide a source of ultraviolet radiation necessary for the excitation of the spectrum of a gaseous nebula.

One possible solution of this problem postulates the existence of intense magnetic fields in the star. Second, the star itself has a structure resembling that of a miniature, highly compressed planetary, with a high-temperature nuclear star at the centre and a distended atmospheric shell enveloping chiefly the stellar equator.

The magnetic field induces a sort of pumping action that creates the tire-shaped envelope from matter ejected near the poles. As this shell grows denser, it radiates like a stellar photosphere at low temperature. Eventually the shell becomes unstable and disperses outward to form and maintain the nebula. A quasi-periodic situation occurs, which explains the variation of light. Ultraviolet light absorbed during the minima, when the shell has vanished, adequately accounts for the nebular excitation. A wide variety of such symbiotic stars occurs, including repeating novae as well as the long-period variables.