We present narrowband near-infrared images of a sample of 11 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) obtained in the H2 2.122 μm and Brγ 2.166 μm emission lines and the K c 2.218 μm continuum. These images ...were collected with the Wide-field Infrared Camera on the 3.6 m Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT); their unprecedented depth and wide field of view allow us to find extended nebular structures in H2 emission in several PNe, some of these being the first detection. The nebular morphologies in H2 emission are studied in analogy with the optical images, and indication of stellar wind interactions is discussed. In particular, the complete structure of the highly asymmetric halo in NGC 6772 is witnessed in H2, which strongly suggests interaction with the interstellar medium. Our sample confirms the general correlation between H2 emission and the bipolarity of PNe. The knotty or filamentary fine structures of the H2 gas are resolved in the inner regions of several ring-like PNe, also confirming the previous argument that H2 emission mostly comes from knots or clumps embedded within fully ionized material at the equatorial regions. Moreover, the H2 image of the butterfly-shaped Sh 1-89, after removal of field stars, clearly reveals a tilted ring structure at the waist. These high-quality CFHT images justify follow-up detailed morphokinematic studies that are desired in order to deduce the true physical structures of a few PNe in the sample.
Abstract
We investigate the structure of the planetary nebula NGC 2371 using O iii λ5007 imaging taken with the Jacobus Kapteyn 1.0 m telescope, and N ii λ6584, O iii λ5007 and Hα results acquired ...with the Hubble Space Telescope. These are supplemented with archival mid-infrared (MIR) observations taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope. We note the presence of off-axis low-ionization spokes along a position angle of 65°, and associated collars of enhanced O iii emission. The spokes appear to consist of dense condensations having low-excitation tails, possibly arising due to ultraviolet shadowing and/or ram-pressure stripping of material. Line ratios imply that most of the emission arises through photoionization, and is unlikely to derive from post-shock cooling regions. An analysis of these features in the MIR suggests that they may also be associated with high levels of emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), together with various permitted and forbidden line transitions. Such high levels of PAH emission, where they are confirmed, may develop as a result of preferentially enhanced far-ultraviolet pumping of the molecules, or shattering of larger grains within local shocks. Although H2 emission may also contribute to these trends, it is argued that shock-excited transitions would lead to markedly differing results. We finally note that thin filaments and ridges of O iii emission may indicate the presence of shock activity at the limits of the interior envelope, as well as at various positions within the shell itself. We also note that radially increasing fluxes at 3.6, 5.8 and 8.0 μm, relative to the emission at 4.5 μm, may arise due to enhanced PAH emission in external photodissociative regions.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
We present a new census of Galactic and extragalactic symbiotic stars (SySts). This compilation contains 323 known and 87 candidate SySts. Of the confirmed SySts, 257 are Galactic and 66 ...extragalactic. The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 348 sources have been constructed using 2MASS and AllWISE data. Regarding the Galactic SySts, 74% are S types, 13% D, and 3.5% D′. S types show an SED peak between 0.8 and 1.7 m, whereas D types show a peak at longer wavelengths between 2 and 4 m. D′ types, on the other hand, display a nearly flat profile. Gaia distances and effective temperatures are also presented. According to their Gaia distances, S types are found to be members of both thin and thick Galactic disk populations, while S+IR and D types are mainly thin disk sources. Gaia temperatures show a reasonable agreement with the temperatures derived from SEDs within their uncertainties. A new census of the O vi λ6830 Raman-scattered line in SySts is also presented. From a sample of 298 SySts with available optical spectra, 55% are found to emit the line. No significant preference is found among the different types. The report of the O vi λ6830 Raman-scattered line in non-SySts is also discussed as well as the correlation between the Raman-scattered O vi line and X-ray emission. We conclude that the presence of the O vi Raman-scattered line still provides a strong criterion for identifying a source as a SySt.
Similar to other classes of astronomical objects, there is a large discrepancy between the total count of theoretically predicted planetary nebulae (PNe) and the number of those actually observed. ...This discrepancy introduces bias in our attempt to globally understand and characterize the PNe population. Major efforts have been made to find the
missing PNe
. In particular, the INT Photometric H
α
Survey (IPHAS) has, since its debut, provided a whelm of new (candidate) PNe, some of which have been studied in depth using various methodologies such as deep imaging and low- and high-resolution spectroscopy. Here, we present the outcome of the analysis of a first group of these well-investigated
IPHAS PNe
with a focus on the extended ones. We show that, in general, the missing objects that were expected to be unveiled by the survey (low density, evolved, and distant) are indeed discovered, but the survey also allows the retrieval of “simply” overlooked PNe.
Although the planetary nebula NGC 6781 appears to possess an elliptical morphology, its kinematic and emission characteristics are in many ways unusual, and it is possible that it may represent a ...bipolar source oriented close to the line of sight. We shall present deep imaging of this nebula in O iiiλ5007, Hα and N iiλ6584, and using broad-band (F555W and F814W) filters centred at λ8269 and λ5252. These were taken with the 2.56-m Nordic Optical Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope. This is combined with mid-infrared (MIR) imaging and spectroscopy acquired with the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer), and near-infrared spectroscopy deriving from the Infrared Space Observatory. These reveal details of the complex N ii structure associated with extended shell emission, perhaps associated with highly inclined bipolar lobes. We also note the presence of narrow absorbing filaments and clumps projected against the surface of the envelope, components which may be responsible for much of the molecular emission. We point out that such clumps may be responsible for complex source structure in the MIR, and give rise to asymmetries in emission along the major axis of the source. Although most of the MIR H2
v= 0-0 emission is clearly concentrated in the bright interior shell, we shall also find evidence for extended emission to the north and south, and determine rotational excitation temperatures of order ∼980 K.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
"Water fountains" (WFs) are evolved objects showing high-velocity, collimated jets traced by water maser emission. Most of them are in the post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) and they may ...represent one of the first manifestations of collimated mass loss in evolved stars. We present water maser, carbon monoxide, and mid-infrared spectroscopic data (obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, Herschel Space Observatory, and the Very Large Telescope, respectively) toward IRAS 15103-5754, a possible planetary nebula (PN) with WF characteristics. Carbon monoxide observations show that IRAS 15103-5754 is an evolved object, while the mid-IR spectrum displays unambiguous NeII emission, indicating that photoionization has started and thus, its nature as a PN is confirmed. Water maser spectra show several components spreading over a large velocity range (Asymptotically = to75 km s super(-1)) and tracing a collimated jet. This indicates that the object is a WF, the first WF known that has already entered the PN phase. However, the spatial and kinematical distribution of the maser emission in this object are significantly different from those in other WFs. Moreover, the velocity distribution of the maser emission shows a "Hubble-like" flow (higher velocities at larger distances from the central star), consistent with a short-lived, explosive mass-loss event. This velocity pattern is not seen in other WFs (which are presumably in earlier evolutionary stages). We therefore suggest that we are witnessing a fundamental change of mass-loss processes in WFs, with water masers being pumped by steady jets in post-AGB stars, but tracing explosive/ballistic events as the object enters the PN phase.
Molecular hydrogen (H 2 ) emission is commonly detected in planetary nebulae (PNe), specially in objects with bipolar morphologies. New studies showed that H 2 gas is also packed in microstructures ...embedded in PNe of any morphological type. Despite the presence of H 2 in cometary knots being known for years, only in the last five years, much deeper imagery of PNe have revealed that H 2 also exists in other types of low-ionisation microstructures (LISs). Significant differences are found between the host PNe of cometary knots and other types of LISs, such as nebula age, central star temperature (evolutionary stage) and the absolute sizes of the microstructure itself.
ABSTRACT
We here present the results from a detailed analysis of nebular abundances of commonly observed ions in the collisional ring galaxy Cartwheel using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) Multi-Unit ...Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) data set. The analysis includes 221 H ii regions in the star-forming ring, in addition to 40 relatively fainter H α-emitting regions in the spokes, disc, and the inner ring. The ionic abundances of He, N, O, and Fe are obtained using the direct method (DM) for 9, 20, 20, and 17 ring H ii regions, respectively, where the S++ temperature-sensitive line is detected. For the rest of the regions, including all the nebulae between the inner and the outer ring, we obtained O abundances using the strong-line method (SLM). The ring regions have a median $12+\log \rm {\frac{O}{H}}$ = 8.19 ± 0.15, $\log \rm {\frac{N}{O}} = -$1.57 ± 0.09 and $\log \rm {\frac{Fe}{O}} = -$2.24 ± 0.09 using the DM. Within the range of O abundances seen in the Cartwheel, the N/O and Fe/O values decrease proportionately with increasing O, suggesting local enrichment of O without corresponding enrichment of primary N and Fe. The O abundances of the disc H ii regions obtained using the SLM show a well-defined radial gradient. The mean O abundance of the ring H ii regions is lower by ∼0.1 dex as compared to the extrapolation of the radial gradient. The observed trends suggest the preservation of the pre-collisional abundance gradient, displacement of most of the processed elements to the ring, as predicted by the recent simulation by Renaud et al., and post-collisional infall of metal-poor gas in the ring.
ABSTRACT
Despite the many studies in the last decades, the low-ionization structures (LISs) of planetary nebulae (PNe) still hold several mysteries. Recent imaging surveys have demonstrated that LISs ...are composed of molecular gas. Here, we report H2 emission in the LISs of NGC 7009 and NGC 6543 by means of very deep narrow-band H2 images taken with NIRI@Gemini. The surface brightness of the H2 1-0 S(1) line is estimated to be (0.46–2.9)× 10−4 erg s−1 cm−2 sr−1 in NGC 7009 and (0.29–0.48)× 10−4 erg s−1 cm−2 sr−1 in NGC 6543, with signal-to-noise ratios of 10–42 and 3–4, respectively. These findings provide further confirmation of hidden H2 gas in LISs. The emission is discussed in terms of the recent proposed diagnostic diagram R(H2) = H2 1-0 S(1)/H2 2-1 S(1) versus R(Brγ) = H2 1-0 S(1)/Brγ, which was suggested to trace the mechanism responsible for the H2 excitation. Comparing our observations to shock and ultraviolet (UV) molecular excitation models, as well as a number of observations compiled from the literature showed that we cannot conclude for either UV or shocks as the mechanism behind the molecular emission.
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