Photoionization modelling of planetary nebulae – II. Galactic bulge nebulae, a comparison with literature results

We have constructed photoionization models of five galactic bulge planetary nebulae using our automatic method, which enables a fully self-consistent determination of the physical parameters of a planetary nebula. The models are constrained using the spectrum, the IRAS and radio fluxes and the angular diameter of the nebula. We also conducted a literature search for physical parameters determined with classical methods for these nebulae. Comparison of the distance-independent physical parameters with published data shows that the stellar temperatures generally are in good agreement and can be considered reliable. The literature data for the electron temperature, electron density and also for the abundances show a large spread, indicating that the use of line diagnostics is not reliable and that the accuracy of these methods needs to be improved. Comparison of the various abundance determinations indicates that the uncertainty in the electron temperature is the main source of uncertainty in the abundance determination. The stellar magnitudes predicted by the photoionization models are in good agreement with observed values.     

The Galactic disc distribution of planetary nebulae with warm dust emission features – I

We investigate the Galactic disc distribution of a sample of planetary nebulae characterized in terms of their mid-infrared spectral features. The total number of Galactic disc PNe with 8–13 μm spectra is brought up to 74 with the inclusion of 24 new objects, the spectra of which we present for the first time. 54 PNe have clearly identified warm dust emission features, and form a sample that we use to construct the distribution of the C/O chemical balance in Galactic disc PNe. The dust emission features complement the information on the progenitor masses brought by the gas-phase N/O ratios: PNe with unidentified infrared emission bands have the highest N/O ratios, while PNe with the silicate signature have either very high N enrichment or close to none. We find a trend for a decreasing proportion of O-rich PNe towards the third and fourth Galactic quadrants. Two independent distance scales confirm that the proportion of O-rich PNe decreases from     per cent inside the solar circle to     per cent outside. PNe with warm dust are also the youngest. PNe with no warm dust are uniformly distributed in C/O and N/O ratios, and do not appear to be confined to     They also have higher 6-cm fluxes, as expected from more evolved PNe. We show that the IRAS fluxes are a good representation of the bolometric flux for compact and IR-bright PNe, which are probably optically thick. Selection of objects with     should probe a good portion of the Galactic disc for these young, dense and compact nebulae, and the dominant selection effects are rooted in the PN catalogues.     

Neon and argon optical emission lines in ionized gaseous nebulae: implications and applications

In this work, we present a study of the strong optical collisional emission lines of Ne and Ar in an heterogeneous sample of ionized gaseous nebulae for which it is possible to derive directly the electron temperature and hence the chemical abundances of Ne and Ar. We calculate using a grid of photoionization models new ionization correction factors for these two elements and we study the behaviour of Ne/O and Ar/O abundance ratios with metallicity. We find a constant value for Ne/O, while there seems to be some evidence for the existence of negative radial gradients of Ar/O over the discs of some nearby spirals. We study the relation between the intensities of the emission lines of [Ne  iii ] at 3869 Å and [O  iii ] at 4959 and 5007 Å. This relation can be used in empirical calibrations and diagnostic ratios extending their applicability to bluer wavelengths and therefore to samples of objects at higher redshifts. Finally, we propose a new diagnostic using [O  ii ], [Ne  iii ] and Hδ emission lines to derive metallicities for galaxies at high z .     

A comprehensive study of reported high-metallicity giant H ii regions – I. Detailed abundance analysis

We present long-slit observations in the optical and near-infrared of 14 H  ii regions in the spiral galaxies NGC 628, 925, 1232 and 1637, all of them reported to have solar or oversolar abundances according to empirical calibrations. For seven of the observed regions, ion-weighted temperatures from optical forbidden auroral to nebular line ratios are obtained and, for six of them, the oxygen abundances derived by standard methods turn out to be significantly lower than solar. The other one, named CDT1 in NGC 1232, shows an oxygen abundance of     , and constitutes, to the best of our knowledge, the first high-metallicity H  ii region for which accurate line temperatures, and hence elemental abundances, have been derived.
For the rest of the regions no line temperature measurements could be made, and the metallicity has been determined by means of both detailed photoionization modelling and the sulphur abundance parameter S ₂₃. Only one of these regions shows values of O ₂₃ and S ₂₃ implying a solar or oversolar metallicity.
According to our analysis, only two of the observed regions can therefore be considered as of high metallicity. These two fit the trends previously found in other high-metallicity H  ii regions, i.e., N/O and S/O abundance ratios seem to be higher and lower than solar respectively.     

Dust masses and abundances in planetary nebulae: likely strong elemental depletion in low-abundance sources

An analysis is undertaken of the relation between dust/gas mass ratios and elemental abundances within planetary nebulae (PNe). It is found that M _DUST/ M _GAS is broadly invariant with abundance, and similar to the values observed in asymptotic giant branch (AGB)-type stars. However, it is noted that the masses of dust observed in low-abundance PNe are similar to the masses of heavy elements observed in the gas phase. This is taken to imply that levels of elemental depletion must be particularly severe, and extend to many more species than have been identified so far. In particular, given that levels of C and O depletion are likely to be large, then this probably implies that species such as Fe, S, Si and Mg are depleted as well. There is already evidence for depletion of Fe, Si and Mg in individual PNe. It follows that whilst quoted abundances may accurately reflect gas-phase conditions, they are likely to be at variance with intrinsic abundances in low Z _N nebulae.
Finally, we note that there appears to be a variation in dust/gas mass ratios with galactocentric distance, with gradient similar to that observed for several elemental abundances. This may represent direct evidence for a correlation between dust/gas mass ratios and nebular abundances.     

Oxygen and helium abundances in Galactic H ii regions – I. Observations

Absolute integrated line fluxes of H  ii regions have been measured using a Fabry–Perot spectrophotometer. We describe the observations and calibration procedures. Fluxes are given for 36 H  ii regions with Galactocentric distances ranging from 6.6 to 17.7 kpc. Several emission lines have been measured, mainly [O  ii ] λλ 3726 and 3629, H β , [O  iii ] λ 5007, He  i λ 5876 and H α . The very faint [O  iii ] λ 4363 line has been measured in six regions, allowing a direct determination of the electron temperature. New photometric distances have been derived based on data from the literature. A discussion of these results in terms of extinction, electron density and temperature, and oxygen and helium abundances is given in Paper II.     

Dynamical and ionization structure of planetary nebulae in three dimensions. A simulation for NGC3132

Using a numerically accurate radiation-gas dynamical method we investigate the winds scenario for aspherical planetary nebulae (PNe). Our model includes the interaction of two winds: as low high mass-loss rate wind (a `super wind'); and a fast wind; low mass-loss rate wind. Our model also includes the evolution of the UV spectrum of the PNe centeral star. As stated in the section3 of Paper I (Ganbari and Khesali, 2001), we consider a three dimensional density distribution ρ(r,θφ for the super wind, in this way we enter the effects of cooling and heating mechanisms in our model. Taking into account the above assumptions, we introduce the code (DIS3D) and numerically we study the dynamical and ionization properties of the planetary nebula NGC3132. We show that it is possible by simulations to reproduce the shape of PNe in three dimensions, and calculating the physical quantities throughout the entire nebula. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A comparative analysis of empirical calibrators for nebular metallicity

We present a new analysis of the main empirical calibrators of oxygen abundance for ionized gas nebulae. With that aim we have compiled an extensive sample of objects with emission-line data including the near-infrared [S  iii ] lines and the weak auroral lines which allow for the determination of the gas electron temperature. For all the objects the oxygen abundances have been derived in a homogenous way, using the most recent sets of atomic coefficients and taking into the account the effect of particle density on the temperature of O⁺. The residuals between directly and empirically derived abundances as a function of abundance have been studied. A grid of photoionization models, covering the range of physical properties of the gas, has been used to explain the origin of the uncertainties affecting each abundance calibrator. The range of validity for each abundance parameter has been identified and its average uncertainty has been quantified.     

A new population of planetary nebulae discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud – I. Preliminary sample

We report our initial discovery of 73 new planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) following confirmatory 2dF spectroscopy on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Preliminary candidate sources come from a 10 per cent sub-area of our new deep, high-resolution Hα map of the central 25 deg² of the LMC obtained with the UK Schmidt Telescope. The depth of the high-resolution map was extended to   R _equiv∼ 22  for  Hα (4.5 × 10⁻¹⁷ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹Å⁻¹)  by a process of multi-exposure median co-addition of a dozen 2-h Hα exposures. The resulting map is at least 1-mag deeper than the best wide-field narrow-band LMC images currently available. This depth, combined with our selection technique, has also led to the discovery of extended asymptotic giant branch (AGB) haloes around many new and previously known LMC PNe for the first time. Once complete, our new survey is expected to triple the LMC PN population and have significant implications for the LMC PN luminosity function, kinematics, abundance gradients, chemical evolution and, via study of the AGB haloes, the initial to final mass relation for low- to intermediate-mass stars.