Theoretical models of planetary nebulae II: NGC 4361, an unusual high-excitation nebula

NGC 4361 is an extremely high excitation, low-density, very inhomogeneous nebula. New spectroscopic data obtained with the Anglo-Australian telescope, together with published material, have been re-interpreted with the aid of theoretical nebular models that permit an estimation of its chemical composition. Helium may be slightly more abundant than in an ordinary planetary, although this is far from certain. Nitrogen, oxygen, and neon appear to be deficient by a factor of 3 or 4 compared with an ordinary planetary nebula. Argon is likewise deficient but the factor is more difficult to establish, partly because of the nebular inhomogeneity and partly because of uncertainties in cross-sections. THe nebula is material bounded and optically thin in the hydrogen continuum. In contrast to other high-excitation nebulae, the low-excitation condensations appear to have been destroyed by penetration of ionizing radiation.