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Chemical compositions and plasma parameters of planetary nebulae with Wolf-Rayet and wels type central stars
Aims.Chemical compositions and other properties of planetary nebulaearound central stars of spectral types [WC], [WO], and wels are comparedwith those of “normal” central stars, in order to clarifythe evolutionary status of each type and their interrelation. Methods:We use plasma diagnostics to derive from optical spectra the plasmaparameters and chemical compositions of 48 planetary nebulae. We alsoreanalyze the published spectra of a sample of 167 non-WR PN. Theresults as well as the observational data are compared in detail withthose from other studies of the objects in common. Results: We confirmthat [WC], [WO] and wels nebulae are very similar to those“normal” PN: the relation between [N II] and [O III]electron temperatures, abundances of He, N, O, Ne, S and Ar, and thenumber of ionizing photons show no significant differences. However,some differences are observed in their infrared (IRAS) properties. welsnebulae appear bluer than [WR] PN. The central star's spectral type isclearly correlated with electron density, temperature and excitationclass of the nebula, [WC] nebulae tend to be smaller than the othertypes. All this corroborates the view of an evolutionary sequence fromcool [WC 11] central stars inside dense, low excitation nebulae towardshot [WO 1] stars with low density, high excitation nebulae. The wels PN,however, appear to be a separate class of objects, not linked to WRPN byevolution: nebular excitation, electron temperature and density, and thenumber of ionizing photons all cover the whole range found in the othertypes. Their lower mean N/O ratio and slightlylower He/H suggestprogenitor stars less massive than for the other PN types. Furthermore,the differences between results of different works are dominated by thedifferences in observational data rather than differences in theanalysis methods.Based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory(ESO), La Silla, Chile. Table 3 and Appendices are only available inelectronic form at http://www.aanda.org Table with fluxes andintensities is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/463/265
| Planetary Nebula Abundances and Morphology: Probing the Chemical Evolution of the Milky Way
This paper presents a homogeneous study of abundances in a sample of 79northern Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) whose morphological classeshave been uniformly determined. Ionic abundances and plasma diagnosticswere derived from selected optical line strengths in the literature, andelemental abundances were estimated with the ionization correctionfactor developed by Kingsbourgh & Barlow in 1994. We compare theelemental abundances to the final yields obtained from stellar evolutionmodels of low- and intermediate-mass stars, and we confirm that mostbipolar PNe have high nitrogen and helium abundance and are the likelyprogeny of stars with main-sequence mass greater than 3Msolar. We derive =0.27 and discuss the implication of such ahigh ratio in connection with the solar neon abundance. We determine theGalactic gradients of oxygen and neon and foundΔlog(O/H)/ΔR=-0.01 dex kpc-1 andΔlog(Ne/H)/ΔR=-0.01 dex kpc-1. These flat PNgradients are irreconcilable with Galactic metallicity gradientsflattening with time.
| The structure of planetary nebulae: theory vs. practice
Context.This paper is the first in a short series dedicated to thelong-standing astronomical problem of de-projecting the bi-dimensional,apparent morphology of a three-dimensional mass of gas. Aims.Wefocus on the density distribution in real planetary nebulae (and alltypes of expanding nebulae). Methods. We introduce some basictheoretical notions, discuss the observational methodology, and developan accurate procedure for determining the matter radial profile withinthe sharp portion of nebula in the plane of the sky identified by thezero-velocity-pixel-column (zvpc) of high-resolution spectral images.Results. The general and specific applications of the method (andsome caveats) are discussed. Moreover, we present a series of evolutivesnapshots, combining illustrative examples of both model and trueplanetary nebulae. Conclusions. The zvpc radial-densityreconstruction - added to tomography and 3D recovery developed at theAstronomical Observatory of Padua (Italy) - constitutes a very usefultool for looking more closely at the spatio-kinematics, physicalconditions, ionic structure, and evolution of expanding nebulae.
| Chemical abundances in seven galactic planetary nebulae
An observational study of chemical abundances in the galactic planetarynebulae NGC 1535, NGC 2438,NGC 2440, NGC 3132, NGC3242, NGC 6302, and NGC7009 based on long-slit spectra of high signal-to-noise ratioin the 3100 to 6900 Å range is presented. We determined the N, O,Ne, S, and Cl abundances from collisionally excited lines and the He andO++ abundances from recombination lines. TheO++/H+ estimates derived from recombination linesare about a factor of four and two higher than those derived fromforbidden lines for NGC 7009 and NGC3242, respectively. Spatial profiles ofO++/H+ abundance from O II permitted lines andfrom [O III] forbidden lines were obtained for the planetary nebulaNGC 7009. The differences betweenO++/H+ derived from recombination and fromforbidden lines present smooth variations along the nebular surface ofNGC 7009, with the differences decreasing from thecenter to the edges of the nebula. If these abundance differences areexplained by the presence of electron temperature fluctuations,quantified by the parameter t2, a value of aboutt2=0.09 is required for NGC 3242 andNGC 7009.
| Electron temperature fluctuations in planetary nebulae
An observational study of the spatial variation of the electrontemperature and density in 10 galactic planetary nebulae is presented.The data consist of long-slit spectra of high signal-to-noise ratio inthe 3100 to 6900 Å range. Electron temperatures were determinedfrom the [O III](λ 4959 + λ 5007)/λ 4363 and [NII](λ 6548 + λ 6583)/λ 5755 ratios and from theBalmer discontinuity. Electron densities were estimated from the [SII]λ 6716/λ 6731, [Cl III]λ 5517/λ 5537, and[Ar IV]λ 4711/λ 4740 ratios. Electron temperaturevariations of low amplitude were found across the nebular surface in theplanetary nebulae studied. The temperature distribution across eachnebula presents a variance relative to the mean corresponding to 0.0003≤ t2s(Bal) ≤ 0.0078, 0.0003 ≤t2s(N II) ≤ 0.0097, and 0.0011 ≤t2s(O III) ≤ 0.0050. A systematic spatialvariation of electron density has been detected in most of objects(NGC 1535, NGC 2438, NGC2440, NGC 3132, NGC3242, NGC 6302, NGC6563, and NGC 7009). The remaining objects(NGC 6781 and NGC 6853) have notshown any significant electron density dependence on position.NGC 2438, NGC 6563, NGC6781, and NGC 6853 are in general the mostdiffuse and probably evolved objects studied here, with low meandensities in the range Ne(S II) ≈ 95-158~cm-3.An anti-correlation between temperature and density was found forNGC 2438 and NGC 3132, with theelectron temperature increasing with the decrease of electron densityand a correlation between temperature and density was found forNGC 2440, NGC 3242, NGC6302, and NGC 7009, with the electrontemperature increasing with the increase of electron density. Theserelationships seem to be associated with the structure of the nebula.The nebulae in which the correlation between temperature and density ispresent are ring shaped. The anti-correlation between temperature anddensity is found in bipolar planetary nebulae that are denser in thecentre of the nebula.
| The 3-D shaping of NGC 6741: A massive, fast-evolving Planetary Nebula at the recombination-reionization edge
We infer the gas kinematics, diagnostics and ionic radial profiles,distance and central star parameters, nebular photo-ionization model,spatial structure and evolutionary phase of the Planetary Nebula NGC6741 by means of long-slit ESO NTT+EMMI high-resolution spectra at nineposition angles, reduced and analysed according to the tomographic and3-D methodologies developed at the Astronomical Observatory of Padua(Italy). NGC 6741 (distance≃2.0 kpc, age≃ 1400 yr, ionizedmass Mion≃ 0.06 Mȯ) is a dense(electron density up to 12 000 cm-3), high-excitation,almost-prolate ellipsoid (0.036 pc × 0.020 pc × 0.018 pc,major, intermediate and minor semi-axes, respectively), surrounded by asharp low-excitation skin (the ionization front), and embedded in aspherical (radius≃ 0.080 pc), almost-neutral, high-density (n(HI)≃ 7 ×103 atoms cm-3) halo containinga large fraction of the nebular mass (Mhalo≥ 0.20Mȯ). The kinematics, physical conditions and ionicstructure indicate that NGC 6741 is in a deep recombination phase,started about 200 years ago, and caused by the rapid luminosity drop ofthe massive (M*=0.66{-}0.68 Mȯ), hot (logT* ≃ 5.23) and faint (logL*/Lȯ ≃ 2.75) post-AGB star, which hasexhausted the hydrogen-shell nuclear burning and is moving along thewhite dwarf cooling sequence. The general expansion law of the ionizedgas in NGC 6741, Vexp(km s-1)=13 × R arcsec,fails in the innermost, highest-excitation layers, which move slowerthan expected. The observed deceleration is ascribable to the luminositydrop of the central star (the decreasing pressure of the hot-bubble nolonger balances the pressure of the ionized gas), and appears instriking contrast to recent reports inferring that acceleration is acommon property of the Planetary Nebulae innermost layers. A detailedcomparative analysis proves that the "U"-shaped expansion velocity fieldis a spurious, incorrect result due to a combination of: (a) simplisticassumptions (spherical shell hypothesis for the nebula); (b) unfitreduction method (emission profiles integrated along the slit); and (c)inappropriate diagnostic choice (λ4686 Å of He II, i.e. athirteen fine-structure components recombination line). Some generalimplications for the shaping mechanisms of Planetary Nebulae arediscussed.
| The Chemical Composition of Galactic Planetary Nebulae with Regard to Inhomogeneity in the Gas Density in Their Envelopes
The results of a study of the chemical compositions of Galacticplanetary nebulae taking into account two types of inhomogeneity in thenebular gas density in their envelopes are reported. New analyticalexpressions for the ionization correction factors have been derived andare used to determine the chemical compositions of the nebular gas inGalactic planetary nebulae. The abundances of He, N, O, Ne, S, and Arhave been found for 193 objects. The Y Z diagrams for various Heabundances are analyzed for type II planetary nebulae separately andjointly with HII regions. The primordial helium abundance Y p andenrichment ratio dY/dZ are determined, and the resulting values arecompared with the data of other authors. Radial abundance gradients inthe Galactic disk are studied using type II planetary nebulae.
| Chemical abundances of Planetary Nebulae in M 33
Using spectroscopic data presented in Magrini et al. (\cite{m03}), wehave analyzed with the photoionization code CLOUDY 94.00 (Ferland et al.\cite{ferland}) 11 Planetary Nebulae belonging to the spiral galaxy M33. Central star temperatures and nebular parameters have beendetermined. In particular the chemical abundances of He/H, O/H, N/H,Ar/H, and S/H have been measured and compared with values obtained viathe Ionization Correction Factors (ICF) method, when available. Chemicalabundance relationships have been investigated; in particular, acorrelation between N/H and N/O similar to the Galactic one (Henry\cite{henry}), and a feeble anti-correlation between O/H and N/O havebeen found. A gradient in O/H across the disc of M 33 is consistent withthe one found from H Ii regions in this galaxy (Vílchez et al.\cite{vilchez88}). Further studies in the outer parts of M 33 arehowever needed to ascertain this point. The present result shows thatoxygen and helium abundances (with lower accuracy also nitrogen, argonand sulphur) can be actually estimated from the brightest PNe of agalaxy, even if the electron temperature cannot be measured. We alsofound that the oxygen abundance is quite independent of the absolutemagnitude of the PN and consequently the brightest PNe arerepresentative of the whole PN population. This represents an importanttool for measuring the metallicity of galaxies at the time of theformation of PNe progenitors.Based on observations obtained at the 4.2 m WHT telescope operated onthe island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisicade Canarias.
| Planetary nebula distances re-examined: an improved statistical scale
The distances of planetary nebulae (PNe) are still quite uncertain.Although observational estimates are available for a small proportion ofPNe, based on statistical parallax and the like, such distances are verypoorly determined for the majority of galactic PNe. In particular,estimates of so-called `statistical' distance appear to differ byfactors of ~2.7.We point out that there is a well-defined correlation between the 5-GHzluminosity of the sources, L5, and their brightnesstemperatures, TB. This represents a different trend to thoseinvestigated in previous statistical analyses, and permits us todetermine independent distances to a further 449 outflows. Thesedistances are shown to be closely comparable to those determined using aTB-R correlation, providing that the latter trend is taken tobe non-linear.This non-linearity in the TB-R plane has not been noted inprevious analyses, and is likely responsible for the broad (andconflicting) ranges of distance that have previously been published.Finally, we point out that there is a close accord between observedtrends within the L5-TB and TB-Rplanes, and the variation predicted through nebular evolutionarymodelling. This is used to suggest that observational biases areprobably modest, and that our revised distance scale is reasonablytrustworthy.
| A reanalysis of chemical abundances in galactic PNe and comparison with theoretical predictions
New determinations of chemical abundances for He, N, O, Ne, Ar and Sare derived for all galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) so far observedwith a relatively high accuracy, in an effort to overcome differences inthese quantities obtained over the years by different authors usingdifferent procedures. These include: ways to correct for interstellarextinction, the atomic data used to interpret the observed line fluxes,the model nebula adopted to represent real objects and the ionizationcorrections for unseen ions. A unique `good quality' classical-typeprocedure, i.e. making use of collisionally excited forbidden lines toderive ionic abundances of heavy ions, has been applied to allindividual sets of observed line fluxes in each specific position withineach PN. Only observational data obtained with linear detectors, andsatisfying some `quality' criteria, have been considered. Suchobservations go from the mid-1970s up to the end of 2001. Theobservational errors associated with individual line fluxes have beenpropagated through the whole procedure to obtain an estimate of theaccuracy of final abundances independent of an author's `prejudices'.Comparison of the final abundances with those obtained in relevantmulti-object studies on the one hand allowed us to assess the accuracyof the new abundances, and on the other hand proved the usefulness ofthe present work, the basic purpose of which was to take full advantageof the vast amount of observations done so far of galactic PNe, handlingthem in a proper homogeneous way. The number of resulting PNe that havedata of an adequate quality to pass the present selection amounts to131. We believe that the new derived abundances constitute a highlyhomogeneous chemical data set on galactic PNe, with realisticuncertainties, and form a good observational basis for comparison withthe growing number of predictions from stellar evolution theory. Owingto the known discrepancies between the ionic abundances of heavyelements derived from the strong collisonally excited forbidden linesand those derived from the weak, temperature-insensitive recombinationlines, it is recognized that only abundance ratios between heavyelements can be considered as satisfactorily accurate. A comparison withtheoretical predictions allowed us to assess the state of the art inthis topic in any case, providing some findings and suggestions forfurther theoretical and observational work to advance our understandingof the evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars.
| Sulfur, Chlorine, and Argon Abundances in Planetary Nebulae. IV. Synthesis and the Sulfur Anomaly
We have compiled a large sample of O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar abundances thathave been determined for 85 Galactic planetary nebulae in a consistentand homogeneous manner using spectra extending from 3600 to 9600Å. Sulfur abundances have been computed using the near-IR lines of[S III] λλ9069, 9532 along with [S III] temperatures. Wefind average values, expressed logarithmically with a standarddeviation, of log(S/O)=-1.91+/-0.24, log(Cl/O)=-3.52+/-0.16, andlog(Ar/O)=-2.29+/-0.18, numbers consistent with previous studies of bothplanetary nebulae and H II regions. We also find a strong correlationbetween [O III] and [S III] temperatures among planetary nebulae. Inanalyzing abundances of Ne, S, Cl, and Ar with respect to O, we find atight correlation for Ne-O, and loose correlations for Cl-O and Ar-O.All three trends appear to be colinear with observed correlations for HII regions. S and O also show a correlation, but there is a definiteoffset from the behavior exhibited by H II regions and stars. We suggestthat this S anomaly is most easily explained by the existence ofS+3, whose abundance must be inferred indirectly when onlyoptical spectra are available, in amounts in excess of what is predictedby model-derived ionization correction factors in PNe. Finally for thedisk PNe, abundances of O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar all show gradients whenplotted against Galactocentric distance. The slopes are statisticallyindistinguishable from one another, a result which is consistent withthe notion that the cosmic abundances of these elements evolve inlockstep.
| The 3-D ionization structure and evolution of NGC 7009 (Saturn Nebula)
Tomographic and 3-D analyses for extended, emission-line objects areapplied to long-slit ESO NTT + EMMI high-resolution spectra of theintriguing planetary nebula NGC 7009, covered at twelve position angles.We derive the gas expansion law, the diagnostics and ionic radialprofiles, the distance and the central star parameters, the nebularphoto-ionization model and the spatial recovery of the plasma structureand evolution. The Saturn Nebula (distance≃1.4 kpc, age≃6000yr, ionized mass≃0.18 Mȯ) consists of severalinterconnected components, characterized by different morphology,physical conditions, excitation and kinematics. We identify four``large-scale'', mean-to-high excitation sub-systems (the internalshell, the main shell, the outer shell and the halo), and as many``small-scale'' ones: the caps (strings of low-excitation knots withinthe outer shell), the ansae (polar, low-excitation, likely shockedlayers), the streams (high-excitation polar regions connecting the mainshell with the ansae), and an equatorial, medium-to-low excitationpseudo-ring within the outer shell. The internal shell, the main shell,the streams and the ansae expand at Vexp≃4.0 × Rarcsec km s-1, the outer shell, the caps and the equatorialpseudo-ring at Vexp≃3.15 × R arcsec kms-1, and the halo at Vexp≃10 kms-1. We compare the radial distribution of the physicalconditions and the line fluxes observed in the eight sub-systems withthe theoretical profiles coming from the photo-ionization code CLOUDY,inferring that all the spectral characteristics of NGC 7009 areexplainable in terms of photo-ionization by the central star, a hot (log T* ≃4.95) and luminous ( logL*/Lȯ≃3.70) 0.60-0.61Mȯ post-AGB star in the hydrogen-shell nuclear burningphase. The 3-D shaping of the Saturn Nebula is discussed within anevolutionary scenario dominated by photo-ionization and supported by thefast stellar wind: it begins with the superwind ejection (firstisotropic, then polar deficient), passes through the neutral, transitionphase ({lasting} ≃3000 yr), the ionization start (occurred≃2000 yr ago), and the full ionization of the main shell(≃1000 yr ago), at last reaching the present days: the wholenebula is optically thin to the UV stellar flux, except the caps (meanlatitude condensations in the outer shell, shadowed by the main shell)and the ansae (supersonic ionization fronts along the major axis).Based on observations made with: ESO Telescopes at the La SillaObservatories (program ID 65.I-0524), and the NASA/ESA Hubble SpaceTelescope, obtained from the data archive at the Space TelescopeInstitute. Observing programs: GO 6117 (P.I. Bruce Balick), GO 6119(P.I. Howard Bond) and GO 8390 (P.I. Arsen Hajian). STScI is operated bythe association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. underthe NASA contract NAS 5-26555. We extensively apply the photo-ionizationcode CLOUDY, developed at the Institute of Astronomy of the CambridgeUniversity (Ferland et al. 1998).
| The evolution of planetary nebulae. I. A radiation-hydrodynamics parameter study
We follow hydrodynamically the evolution of spherimodel planetarynebulae subject to different initial conditions and with various centralstars, investigating how combinations of central-star mass andasymptotic giant branch mass-loss rate determine the shape andkinematics of a planetary nebula. With this approach we aim atconstituting a framework useful for the interpretation of theevolutionary status and previous mass-loss history of observedindividual nebulae, making use of their kinematiproperties and surfacebrightness characteristics. In particular, the models are compared withthe observed morphologies and kinematics of double shell nebulae. Thedynamical structure of all the models is characterized by a more or lesscomplicated shock wave pattern set up by ionization and wind interactionwhose combined action results in general in a typical double-shellstructure. We have found that models with simple initial structuresbased on a constant AGB mass-loss rate fail to comply with observedshell morphologies and surface-brightness distributions. A reasonableagreement with the observations is only found for a model where themass-loss rate is strongly increasing towards the end of the asymptoticgiant-branch evolution. Depending on the central star's evolutionaryspeed and the density of the cool wind expelled along the asymptoticgiant-branch, planetary nebulae may never get optically thin. This isprimarily the case for the more massive central stars, and this factoffers a rather natural explanation for the long standing problem of thevery existence of molecular hydrogen in the immediate vicinity of hotcentral stars. We also show that distances to planetary nebulae based onexpansion parallaxes are systematically too small by a significantamount.
| Stellar paleontology using planetary nebulae
Photoionization and winds interactions cause a complete redistributionof the circumstellar density in the brightest, innermost regions ofplanetary nebulae, cancelling all the information about the mass losshistory of the AGB progenitors. On the contrary, the faint extendedhaloes that are observed around planetary nebulae can still be used totrace back the AGB mass loss history. In particular, the edges of thesehaloes are the imprint of the last AGB thermal pulse, and can be used toderive timescales and mass loss rates for the latest AGB evolution. Idescribe below the recent advances on this topic.
| The relation between Zanstra temperature and morphology in planetary nebulae
We have created a master list of Zanstra temperatures for 373 galacticplanetary nebulae based upon a compilation of 1575 values taken from thepublished literature. These are used to evaluate mean trends intemperature for differing nebular morphologies. Among the most prominentresults of this analysis is the tendency forη=TZ(HeII)/TZ(HeI) to increase with nebularradius, a trend which is taken to arise from the evolution of shelloptical depths. We find that as many as 87 per cent of nebulae may beoptically thin to H ionizing radiation where radii exceed ~0.16 pc. Wealso note that the distributions of values η and TZ(HeII)are quite different for circular, elliptical and bipolar nebulae. Acomparison of observed temperatures with theoretical H-burning trackssuggests that elliptical and circular sources arise from progenitorswith mean mass ≅ 1 Msolar(although the elliptical progenitors are probably more massive).Higher-temperature elliptical sources are likely to derive fromprogenitors with mass ≅2 Msolar, however, implying thatthese nebulae (at least) are associated with a broad swathe ofprogenitor masses. Such a conclusion is also supported by trends in meangalactic latitude. It is found that higher-temperature ellipticalsources have much lower mean latitudes than those with smallerTZ(HeII), a trend which is explicable where there is anincrease in with increasing TZ(HeII).This latitude-temperature variation also applies for most other sources.Bipolar nebulae appear to have mean progenitor masses ≅2.5Msolar, whilst jets, Brets and other highly collimatedoutflows are associated with progenitors at the other end of the massrange (~ 1 Msolar). Indeed it ispossible, given their large mean latitudes and low peak temperatures,that the latter nebulae are associated with the lowest-mass progenitorsof all.The present results appear fully consistent with earlier analyses basedupon nebular scale heights, shell abundances and the relativeproportions of differing morphologies, and offer further evidence for alink between progenitor mass and morphology.
| Galactic Planetary Nebulae and their central stars. I. An accurate and homogeneous set of coordinates
We have used the 2nd generation of the Guide Star Catalogue (GSC-II) asa reference astrometric catalogue to compile the positions of 1086Galactic Planetary Nebulae (PNe) listed in the Strasbourg ESO Catalogue(SEC), its supplement and the version 2000 of the Catalogue of PlanetaryNebulae. This constitutes about 75% of all known PNe. For these PNe, theones with a known central star (CS) or with a small diameter, we havederived coordinates with an absolute accuracy of ~0\farcs35 in eachcoordinate, which is the intrinsic astrometric precision of the GSC-II.For another 226, mostly extended, objects without a GSC-II counterpartwe give coordinates based on the second epoch Digital Sky Survey(DSS-II). While these coordinates may have systematic offsets relativeto the GSC-II of up to 5 arcsecs, our new coordinates usually representa significant improvement over the previous catalogue values for theselarge objects. This is the first truly homogeneous compilation of PNepositions over the whole sky and the most accurate one available so far.The complete Table \ref{tab2} is only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/408/1029}
| Angular dimensions of planetary nebulae
We have measured angular dimensions of 312 planetary nebulae from theirimages obtained in Hα (or Hα + [NII]). We have appliedthree methods of measurements: direct measurements at the 10% level ofthe peak surface brightness, Gaussian deconvolution and second-momentdeconvolution. The results from the three methods are compared andanalysed. We propose a simple deconvolution of the 10% levelmeasurements which significantly improves the reliability of thesemeasurements for compact and partially resolved nebulae. Gaussiandeconvolution gives consistent but somewhat underestimated diameterscompared to the 10% measurements. Second-moment deconvolution givesresults in poor agreement with those from the other two methods,especially for poorly resolved nebulae. From the results of measurementsand using the conclusions of our analysis we derive the final nebulardiameters which should be free from systematic differences between small(partially resolved) and extended (well resolved) objects in our sample.Table 1 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| A grid of synthetic ionizing spectra for very hot compact stars from NLTE model atmospheres
The precise analysis of properties of planetary nebulae is stronglydependent on good models for the stellar ionizing spectrum. Observationsin the UV - X-ray wavelength range as well as NLTE model atmospherecalculations of spectra of their exciting stars have shown that neitherblackbody fluxes nor ``standard'' NLTE atmosphere models which arecomposed out of hydrogen and helium only are good approximations. Strongdifferences between synthetic spectra from these compared to observedspectra at energies higher than 54 eV (\He 2 ground state) can beascribed to the neglect of metal-line blanketing.Realistic modeling of the emergent fluxes of hot stars in the UV - X-raywavelength range requires metal-line blanketed NLTE model atmosphereswhich include all elements from hydrogen up to the iron-group. For thispurpose, we present a grid (solar and halo abundance ratios) ofmetal-line blanketed NLTE model atmosphere fluxes which covers theparameter range of central stars of planetary nebulae.
| The relation between elemental abundances and morphology in planetary nebulae
An investigation of the variation of elemental abundances with planetarynebula morphology is of considerable interest, since it has a bearingupon how such sources are formed, and from which progenitors they areejected. Recent advances in morphological classification now enable usto assess such trends for a statistically significant number of sources.We find, as a result, that the distribution N[log(X/H)] of sources withrespect to elemental abundance (X/H) varies between the differingmorphologies. Circular sources tend to peak towards low abundancevalues, whilst bipolar nebulae (BPNe) peak towards somewhat highervalues. This applies for most elemental species, although it is perhapsleast apparent for oxygen. In contrast, elliptical sources appear todisplay much broader functions N[log(X/H)], which trespass upon thedomains of both circular and elliptical planetary nebulae (PNe).We take these trends to imply that circular sources derive fromlower-mass progenitors, bipolar sources from higher-mass stars, and thatelliptical nebulae derive from all masses of progenitor, high and low.Whilst such trends are also evident in values of mean abundance, they are much less clear. Only in the cases of He/H, N/H,Ne/H and perhaps Ar/H is there evidence for significant abundancedifferences.Certain BPNe appear to possess low abundance ratios He/H and Ar/H, andthis confirms that a few such outflows may arise from lower-massprogenitors. Similarly, we note that ratios are quite modestin elliptical planetary nebulae, and not much different from those forcircular and bipolar PNe; a result that conflicts with the expectationsof at least one model of shell formation.
| Ionized haloes in planetary nebulae: new discoveries, literature compilation and basic statistical properties
We present a comprehensive observational study of haloes aroundplanetary nebulae (PNe). Deep Hα+[NII] and/or [OIII] narrow-bandimages have been obtained for 35 PNe, and faint extended haloes havebeen newly discovered in the following 10 objects: Cn 1-5, IC 2165, IC2553, NGC 2792, NGC 2867, NGC 3918, NGC 5979, NGC 6578, PB 4, andpossibly IC 1747. New deep images have also been obtained of other knownor suspected haloes, including the huge extended emission around NGC3242 and Sh 2-200. In addition, the literature was searched, andtogether with the new observations an improved data base containing some50 PN haloes has been compiled.The halo sample is illustrated in an image atlas contained in thispaper, and the original images are made available for use by thescientific community at http://www.ing.iac.es/~rcorradi/HALOES/.The haloes have been classified following the predictions of modernradiation-hydrodynamical simulations that describe the formation andevolution of ionized multiple shells and haloes around PNe. According tothe models, the observed haloes have been divided into the followinggroups: (i) circular or slightly elliptical asymptotic giant branch(AGB) haloes, which contain the signature of the last thermal pulse onthe AGB; (ii) highly asymmetrical AGB haloes; (iii) candidaterecombination haloes, i.e. limb-brightened extended shells that areexpected to be produced by recombination during the late post-AGBevolution, when the luminosity of the central star drops rapidly by asignificant factor; (iv) uncertain cases which deserve further study fora reliable classification; (v) non-detections, i.e. PNe in which no halois found to a level of <~10-3 the peak surface brightnessof the inner nebulae.We discuss the properties of the haloes: detection rate, morphology,location of the central stars in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, sizes,surface brightness profiles, and kinematical ages. Among the mostnotable results, we find that, as predicted by models, ionized AGBhaloes are a quite common phenomenon in PNe, having been found in 60 percent of elliptical PNe for which adequately deep images exist. Another10 per cent show possible recombination haloes. In addition, using thekinematical ages of the haloes and inner nebulae, we conclude that mostof the PNe with observed AGB haloes have left the AGB far from a thermalpulse, at a phase when hydrogen burning is the dominant energy source.We find no significant differences between the AGB haloes ofhydrogen-poor and hydrogen-rich central stars.
| Sulfur, Chlorine, and Argon Abundances in Planetary Nebulae. III. Observations and Results for a Final Sample
This paper is the fourth in a series whose purpose is to study theinterstellar abundances of sulfur, chlorine, and argon in the Galaxyusing a sample of 86 planetary nebulae. Here we present new high-qualityspectrophotometric observations of 20 Galactic planetary nebulae withspectral coverage from 3700 to 9600 Å. A major feature of ourobservations throughout the entire study has been the inclusion of thenear-infrared lines of [S III] λλ9069, 9532, which allowsus to calculate accurate S+2 abundances and to either improveupon or convincingly confirm results of earlier sulfur abundancestudies. For each of the 20 objects here, we calculate ratios of S/O,Cl/O, and Ar/O and find average values ofS/O=(1.1+/-1.1)×10-2,Cl/O=(4.2+/-5.3)×10-4, andAr/O=(5.7+/-4.3)×10-3. For six objects, we are able tocompare abundances of S+3 calculated directly from available[S IV] 10.5 μm measurements with those inferred indirectly from thevalues of the ionization correction factors for sulfur. In the finalpaper of the series, we will compile results from all 86 objects, searchfor and evaluate trends, and use chemical evolution models to interpretour results.
| The Multiple Shell PN NGC 2438: Shell Modeling and the Influence of Different Central Star Models
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| The Correlation of PN Morphology and Parameters (invited review)
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| The Dynamical Evolution of the Circumstellar Gas around Low- and Intermediate-Mass Stars. II. The Planetary Nebula Formation
We have studied the effect of the mass of the central star (CS) on thegas evolution during the planetary nebula (PN) phase. We have performednumerical simulations of PN formation using CS tracks for six stellarcore masses corresponding to initial masses from 1 to 5Msolar. The gas structure resulting from the previousasymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolution is used as the startingconfiguration. The formation of multiple shells is discussed in thelight of our models, and the density, velocity, and Hα emissionbrightness profiles are shown for each stellar mass considered. We havecomputed the evolution of the different shells in terms of radius,expansion velocity, and Hα peak emissivity. We find that theevolution of the main shell is controlled by the ionization front ratherthan by the thermal pressure provided by the hot bubble during the earlyPN stages. This effect explains why the kinematical ages overestimatethe age in young CSs. At later stages in the evolution and for low-massprogenitors the kinematical ages severely underestimate the CS age.Large (up to 2.3 pc), low surface brightness shells (less than 2000times the brightness of the main shell) are formed in all of our models(with the exception of the 5 Msolar model). These PN haloscontain most of the ionized mass in PNe, which we find is greatlyunderestimated by the observations because of the low surface brightnessof the halos.
| The Correlations between Planetary Nebula Morphology and Central Star Evolution: Analysis of the Northern Galactic Sample
Northern Galactic planetary nebulae (PNs) are studied to disclosepossible correlations between the morphology of the nebulae and theevolution of the central stars (CSs). To this end, we have built thebest database available to date, accounting for homogeneity andcompleteness. We use updated statistical distances and an updatedmorphological classification scheme, and we calculate Zanstratemperatures for a large sample of PNs. With our study we confirm thatround, elliptical, and bipolar PNs have different spatial distributionswithin the Galaxy, with average absolute distances to the Galactic planeof 0.73, 0.38, and 0.21 kpc, respectively. We also find evidence thatthe distributions of the CS masses are different across thesemorphological groups, although we do not find that CSs hosted by bipolarPNs are hotter, on average, than CSs within round and elliptical PNs.Our results are in broad agreement with previous analyses, indicatingthat round, elliptical, and bipolar PNs evolve from progenitors indifferent mass ranges and might belong to different stellar populations,as also indicated by the helium and nitrogen abundances of PNs ofdifferent morphology.
| The 3-D ionization structure of the planetary nebula NGC 6565
A detailed study of the planetary nebula NGC 6565 has been carried outon long-slit echellograms (lambda /Delta lambda =60 000, spectral range= lambda lambda 3900-7750 Å) at six, equally spaced positionangles. The expansion velocity field, the c(Hβ ) distribution andthe radial profile of the physical conditions (electron temperature anddensity) are obtained. The distance, radius, mass and filling factor ofthe nebula and the temperature and luminosity of the central star arederived. The radial ionization structure is analyzed using both theclassical method and the photo-ionization code CLOUDY. Moreover, wepresent the spatial structure in a series of images from differentdirections, allowing the reader to ``see'' the nebula in 3-D. NGC 6565results to be a young (2000-2500 years), patchy, optically thicktriaxial ellipsoid (a=10.1 arcsec, a/b=1.4, a/c=1.7) projected almostpole-on. The matter close to major axis was swept-up by someaccelerating agent (fast wind? ionization? magnetic fields?), formingtwo faint and asymmetric polar cups. A large cocoon of almost neutralgas completely embeds the ionized nebula. NGC 6565 is in a recombinationphase, because of the luminosity drop of the massive powering star,which is reaching the white dwarf domain (log T* =~ 5.08 K;log L*/Lsun =~ 2.0). The stellar decline startedabout 1000 years ago, but the main nebula remained optically thin forother 600 years before the recombination phase occurred. In the nearfuture the ionization front will re-grow, since the dilution factor dueto the expansion will prevail on the slower and slower stellar decline.NGC 6565 is at a distance of 2.0 (+/-0.5) kpc and can be divided intothree radial zones: the ``fully ionized'' one, extending up to0.029-0.035 pc at the equator (0.050 pc at the poles), the``transition'' one, up to 0.048-0.054 pc (0.080 pc), the ``halo'',detectable up to 0.110 pc. The ionized mass ( =~ 0.03 Msun)is only a fraction of the total mass (>= 0.15 Msun), whichhas been ejected by an equatorial enhanced superwind of 4 (+/-2) x10-5 Msun yr-1 lasted for 4 (+/-2) x103 years. Based on observations made with ESO Telescopes atthe La Silla Observatories, under programme ID 65.I-0524, and onobservations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtainedfrom the data archive at the Space Telescope Institute (observingprogram GO 7501; P.I. Arsen Hajian). STScI is operated by theassociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under theNASA contract NAS 5-26555. We have applied the photoionization codeCLOUDY, developed at the Institute of Astronomy of the CambridgeUniversity.
| Effects of CSPN Models on PN Shell Modeling
Modeling planetary nebula shells (PNe) using different ionizing spectrafor a hot central star (CSPN) of evolved PNe, we found that a blackbodymodel leads to wrong nebular diagnostics and abundances.
| Implications of Dust for the Radiation Spectrum of Shell-Type PN Models
We have modeled the dust in extended PNe and found that the traditionalmethods used to derive dust temperature and dust-to-gas ratio from IRAS25 and 60 mu m fluxes can be subject to large errors.
| Helium contamination from the progenitor stars of planetary nebulae: The He/H radial gradient and the ΔY / ΔZ enrichment ratio
In this work, two aspects of the chemical evolution of 4He inthe Galaxy are considered on the basis of a sample of disk planetarynebulae (PN). First, an application of corrections owing to thecontamination of 4He from the evolution of the progenitorstars shows that the He/H abundance by number of atoms is reduced by0.012 to 0.015 in average, leading to an essentially flat He/H radialdistribution. Second, a determination of the helium to heavy elementenrichment ratio using the same corrections leads to values in the range2.8 < ΔY / ΔZ < 3.6 for Y p = 0.23 and 2.0< ΔY / ΔZ < 2.8 for Y p = 0.24, in goodagreement with recent independent determinations and theoretical models.
| The physical structure of the planetary nebula NGC 6781
The planetary nebula NGC 6781 was imaged in major optical emissionlines. These lines allow us to construct maps of the projected, twodimensional Balmer decrement, electron density, electron temperature,ionization and abundance structure. The average electron density,determined from the [S Ii] lines, is ~500 cm-3, while theelectron temperature distribution, determined from the [N Ii] lines, isflat at ~10 000 K. The Balmer decrement map shows that there arevariations in extinction between the north and south areas of theplanetary nebula. The higher extinction observed to the north of thecentral star is probably caused by dust spatially associated with COemission at blue-shifted velocities. The [N Ii] image reveals the knownoptical halo, at a flux level of ~0.2% of the strong shell emission inthe east, but now the angular extent of 216 arcsec x 190 arcsec is muchlarger than previous measurements. The halo is also present in [O Iii],where we measure an extent of 190 arcsec x 162 arcsec. The ionizationmaps indicate substantial ionization along the caps of the ellipsoid aswell as in the halo. The maps also show a sharp decrease in ionizationalong the outer edge of the shell in the west and the east, south-east.The typical log abundances measured for He, N, O and S are 10.97, 8.14,8.72 and 6.90, respectively.
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