NGC-2371 - A HIGH-EXCITATION PLANETARY-NEBULA WITH AN O VI NUCLEUS

We have analyzed the spectrum of the planetary nebula NGC 2371 and its nucleus to identify the evolutionary stage of this singular object. B y means of nebular and stellar data we calculate fundamental stellar p arameters and acquire more insight into the nebular characteristics. T he nucleus is hot (T-eff greater than or equal to 120, 000K) and lumin ous (log L/L(.)=3.0), is probably close to the blue bend of the P-AGB evolutionary sequence, and shows prominent O VI emissions with (so far ) unique double narrow and broad features. A preliminary correlation b etween the stellar parameters and the O VI strength is derived.