\documentstyle{preprint} \begin{document} \title{PLANETARY NEBULAE WITH BINARY NUCLEI} \author{Mario Livio\\ \\ Space Telescope Science Institute\\ \\ 3700 San Martin Drive\\ \\ Baltimore, MD 21218} \pub{{\em the proceedings of IAU Symposium 180}\\ ~\\ Planetary Nebulae\\ ~\\ {\em held 26--30 August 1996 in Groningen, The Netherlands}} \maketitle \begin{abstract} High resolution images of planetary nebulae have revealed a variety of non-spherical morphologies. In addition, some planetary nebulae were found to produce highly collimated jets. It is argued that binary central stars may play a crucial role in the production of all of these morphologies. In particular, a specific mechanism is identified for the generation of ``point-symmetric'' nebulae. It is shown that the study of binary nuclei of planetary nebulae can provide essential information for the understanding of the common envelope phase in the evolution of binary systems. \end{abstract} \end{document}