Abundances Of Planetary Nebulae Research Articles

The evolution of the Galactic bulge from planetary nebulae

AbstractWe have used our dataset on the abundances of planetary nebulae (PN) to study the chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge. We have derived several relations involving the chemical abundances and computed three classes of models for the Galactic bulge: (i) one-zone, single-infall models, (ii) one-zone, double-infall models and (iii) multizone, double infall models. We conclude that part of the observational data can be understood in terms of the simpler models, but the full understanding of all observational constraints can only be explained by more complex multizone models.

S‐Process Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

The s-process should occur in all but the lower mass progenitor stars of planetary nebulae, and this should be reflected in the chemical composition of the gas which is expelled to create the current planetary nebula shell. Weak forbidden emission lines are expected from several s-process elements in these shells, and have been searched for and in some cases detected in previous investigations. Here we extend these studies by combining very high signal-to-noise echelle spectra of a sample of PNe with a critical analysis of the identification of the emission lines of Z>30 ions. Emission lines of Br, Kr, Xe, Rb, Ba, and Pb are detected with a reasonable degree of certainty in at least some of the objects studied here, and we also tentatively identify lines from Te and I, each in one object. The strengths of these lines indicate enhancement of s-process elements in the central star progenitors, and we determine the abundances of Br, Kr, and Xe, elements for which atomic data relevant for abundance determination have recently become available. As representative elements of the ``light'' and ``heavy'' s-process peaks Kr and Xe exhibit similar enhancements over solar values, suggesting that PNe progenitors experience substantial neutron exposure.

The Progenitors of Planetary Nebulae in Dwarf Irregular Galaxies

We present chemical abundances for planetary nebulae and H II regions in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 based on spectroscopy obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope using the Multi-Object Spectrograph. From these and similar data compiled from the literature for planetary nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds, Sextans A, Sextans B, and Leo A, we consider the origin and evolution of the stellar progenitors of bright planetary nebulae in dwarf irregular galaxies. On average, the oxygen abundance observed in the bright planetary nebulae in these galaxies coincides with that measured in the ISM, indicating that, in general, the bright planetary nebulae in dwarf irregulars descend primarily, although not exclusively, from stars formed in the relatively recent past. We also find that the ratio of neon to oxygen abundances in these bright planetary nebulae is identical to that measured in the ISM, indicating that neither abundance is significantly altered as a result of the evolution of their stellar progenitors. We do find two planetary nebulae, that in Sextans A and S33 in NGC 6822, where oxygen appears to have been dredged up, but these are the exception rather than the rule. In fact, we find that even nitrogen is not always dredged up, so it appears that the dredge-up of oxygen is uncommon for the abundance range of the sample.

Abundances in planetary nebulae: Hb 5

The ISO spectra of the bilobal planetary nebula Hb 5 are presented. These spectra are combined with the spectra in the visual wavelength region to obtain a complete, extinction corrected, spectrum. The chemical composition of the nebula is then calculated in several ways. First by directly calculating and adding individual ion abundances, assuming that all the ionic lines are formed in an ionized region surrounding the ionizing star. Secondly by building an “end-to-end model” nebula in which we have included a neutral region and a photodissociation region (PDR) beyond the ionized nebula. In this way we attempt to interpret the molecular hydrogen lines observed by ISO in a more self-consistent way. In the final analysis, the model is found to be basically heuristic, but gives new insights about the PDR and the PN. The implications of these are discussed.

Planetary nebulae abundances and stellar evolution

A summary is given of planetary nebulae abundances from ISO measurements. It is shown that these nebulae show abundance gradients (with galactocentric distance), which in the case of neon, argon, sulfur and oxygen (with four exceptions) are the same as HII regions and early type star abundance gradients. The abundance of these elements predicted from these gradients at the distance of the Sun from the center are exactly the solar abundance. Sulfur is the exception to this; the reason for this is discussed. The higher solar neon abundance is confirmed; this is discussed in terms of the results of helioseismology. Evidence is presented for oxygen destruction via ON cycling having occurred in the progenitors of four planetary nebulae with bilobal structure. These progenitor stars had a high mass, probably greater than 5 M. This is deduced from the high values of He/H and N/H found in these nebulae. Formation of nitrogen, helium and carbon are discussed. The high mass progenitors which showed oxygen destruction are shown to have probably destroyed carbon as well. This is probably the result of hot bottom burning.

Temperature Variations and Chemical Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

In this review we present a brief discussion on the observational evidence in favor of the presence of temperature variations, and conclude that many planetary nebulae show spatial temperature variations that are larger than those predicted by 1D static chemically homogeneous photoionization models. To determine accurate chemical abundances it is necessary to know the cause of these temperature variations and several possibilities are discussed. The importance of this problem is paramount to test the models of stellar evolution of low and intermediate mass stars and of the chemical evolution of galaxies. We conclude that the proper abundances for chemically homogeneous PNe are those derived from recombination lines, while for the two-abundance nebular model the proper heavy element abundances relative to hydrogen are those derived from visual and UV collisionally excited lines adopting the (Balmer).

Abundances in planetary nebulae: Mz 3

ISO spectra of the bipolar planetary nebula Mz3 are used to determine the element abundances in the bright lobes of the nebula. The ISO spectra alone are sufficient to determine nitrogen, neon, argon, sulfur and iron abundances. These spectra are combined with spectra in the visual wavelength region (taken from the literature) to obtain an extinction corrected spectrum which is used to determine the abundance of oxygen and some other elements using a classical determination. We have tried abundance determination using photoionization modeling using cloudy, which is essential for determining the helium, silicon and chlorine abundances. It was found di.cult to model the entire spectrum. New information about the central star could be determined. The abundances determined are found to differ somewhat from earlier results using only visual spectra. The reasons for this difference are discussed. An elevated helium abundance is found, agreeing with the determination of Smith 2003. Taken together with the high nitrogen abundance found, it is concluded that the exciting star of Mz 3 had a high progenitor mass.

Fluorine Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

We have determined fluorine abundances from the [F II] λ4789 and [F IV] λ4060 nebular emission lines for a sample of planetary nebulae (PNe). Our results show that fluorine is generally overabundant in PNe, thus providing new evidence for the synthesis of fluorine in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. [F/O] is found to be positively correlated with the C/O abundance ratio, in agreement with the predictions of theoretical models of fluorine production in thermally pulsing AGB stars. A large enhancement of fluorine is observed in the Wolf-Rayet PN NGC 40, suggesting that high mass-loss rates probably favor the survival of fluorine.

Oxygen and Neon Abundances of Planetary Nebulae in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4697

This paper presents deep spectra of 14 planetary nebulae (PNs) at a variety of angular distances from the center of the flattened elliptical galaxy NGC 4697, which is located at ~11 Mpc from us. Both near the center and among the most outlying PNs, we have found several examples of very strong [O III] λ5007, about 20 times brighter than Hβ. This, together with strong [Ne III] lines, implies a lower limit for O and Ne abundances near solar at the center and also at more than 2 effective radii from the center of NGC 4697. Thus we have found, for the first time from individual stars, direct evidence of the existence of a metal-rich population in elliptical galaxies, confirming metallicities derived from absorption-line indices and extending the information to angular distances where the stellar surface brightness is too low for absorption-line studies. A comparison with abundances obtained closer to the center of NGC 4697 from integrated absorption-line spectra indicates that the metallicity gradient, which is quite steep within 1 effective radius, becomes much less pronounced beyond 1 effective radius. The only alternative to this interpretation would be the presence of a very metal-poor PN population with [Z/H] below -1, which we cannot rule out, but it would require an extremely bimodal metallicity distribution with almost no intermediate metallicities.

Abundances in planetary nebulae: NGC 6886

ISO and IUE spectra of the round-shaped planetary nebula NGC 6886 are combined with spectra in the visual wavelength region taken from the literature to obtain a complete, extinction corrected spectrum from ultraviolet to infrared wavelengths. The characteristics of the nebula and its central star are determined by various methods including photoionization modeling using C. The results of the modeling are checked against the observational data and compared to those derived from a more classical abundance determination approach. The abundances determined are found to differ substantially from earlier results although the observations used are essentially the same, except for the inclusion of the ISO results. The reasons for this difference are discussed. Finally, the main results are interpreted in terms of the evolutionary stage of NGC 6886 and its central star.

Recombination Line versus Forbidden Line Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

Recombination lines (RLs) of C II, N II, and O II in planetary nebulae (PNs) have been found to give abundances that are much larger in some cases than abundances from collisionally excited forbidden lines (CELs). The origins of this abundance discrepancy are highly debated. We present new spectroscopic observations of O II and C II recombination lines for six planetary nebulae. With these data we compare the abundances derived from the optical recombination lines with those determined from collisionally excited lines. Combining our new data with published results on RLs in other PNs, we examine the discrepancy in abundances derived from RLs and CELs. We find that there is a wide range in the measured abundance discrepancy Δ(O+2) = log O+2(RL) - log O+2(CEL), ranging from approximately 0.1 dex (within the 1 σ measurement errors) up to 1.4 dex. This tends to rule out errors in the recombination coefficients as a source of the discrepancy. Most RLs yield similar abundances, with the notable exception of O II multiplet V15, known to arise primarily from dielectronic recombination, which gives abundances averaging 0.6 dex higher than other O II RLs. We compare Δ(O+2) against a variety of physical properties of the PNs to look for clues as to the mechanism responsible for the abundance discrepancy. The strongest correlations are found with the nebula diameter and the Balmer surface brightness; high surface brightness, compact PNs show small values of Δ(O+2), while large low surface brightness PNs show the largest discrepancies. An inverse correlation of Δ(O+2) with nebular density is also seen. A marginal correlation of Δ(O+2) is found with expansion velocity. No correlations are seen with electron temperature, He+2/He+, central star effective temperature and luminosity, stellar mass-loss rate, or nebular morphology. Similar results are found for carbon in comparing C II RL abundances with ultraviolet measurements of C III].

Chemical abundances of Planetary Nebulae in M 33

Using spectroscopic data presented in Magrini et al. (2003), we have analyzed with the photoionization code CLOUDY 94.00 (Ferland et al. 1998) 11 Planetary Nebulae belonging to the spiral galaxy M 33. Central star temperatures and nebular parameters have been determined. 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 via the Ionization Correction Factors (ICFs) method, when available. Chemical abundance relationships have been investigated; in particular, a correlation between N/H and N/O similar to the Galactic one (Henry 1989), and a feeble anti-correlation between O/H and N/O have been found. A gradient in O/H across the disc of M~33 is indicatively consistent with the one found from HII regions in this galaxy (Vilchez et al 1988). Further studies in the more external parts of M~33 are however needed to ascertain this point. The present result shows that oxygen and helium abundances (with lower accuracy also nitrogen, argon and sulphur) can be actually estimated from the brightest PNe of a galaxy, even if the electron temperature cannot be measured. We also found that the oxygen abundance is quite independent of the absolute magnitude of the PN and consequently the brightest PNe are representative of the whole PN population. This represents an important tool to measure the metallicity of galaxies at the time of the formation of PNe progenitors.

Chemical abundances of planetary nebulae from optical recombination lines - I. Observations and plasma diagnostics

We have obtained deep optical spectra of medium resolution for a sample of 12 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe). Optical recombination lines (ORLs) from carbon, nitrogen and oxygen have been detected in 11 of them and neon ORLs in nine of them. All spectra were obtained by scanning a long slit across the nebular surface, yielding relative line intensities for the entire nebula that are suitable for comparison with integrated line fluxes measured in other wavelength regions using space-borne facilities, such as the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE). For 11 PNe, ISO infrared spectra between 2.4 and 197 µm are available, most of them taken by ourselves, plus a Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) infrared spectrum of NGC 6210. IUE ultraviolet (UV) spectra are available for all nebulae except one in our sample. The UV, optical and infrared spectra have been combined to study nebular thermal and density structures and to determine elemental abundances. We have determined UV to optical extinction curves towards these PNe by examining observed fluxes of H I and He II recombination lines, radio free‐free continuum flux density, and UV to optical nebular continua. For 11 PNe in our sample, the derived optical reddening curves are found to be consistent with the standard Galactic extinction law for a total-toselective extinction ratio, R ≡ A(V)/EB‐V = 3.1. However, the optical extinction curve towards Hu 1‐2 yields R = 2.0. The UV extinction towards Hu 1‐2 and NGC 6572 is also found to be much steeper than the standard Galactic reddening law. In contrast, the UV extinction curve along the sight lines towards NGC 6210 is found to be much shallower, although in the latter case the uncertainties involved are quite large. Electron temperatures and densities have been derived using a variety of diagnostic ratios of collisionally excited lines (CELs) in the UV, optical and infrared. The results show clear stratifications, both in temperature and density. Lines emitted by ions formed in regions of higher ionization degree yield higher temperatures than lines arising from regions of lower ionization degree, while densities deduced from ratios of infrared diagnostic CELs of low critical densities, such as the [O III] 88-µm/52-µm ratio, are systematically lower than those derived from UV and optical diagnostic lines, which in general have much higher critical densities than the infrared fine-structure lines. Electron temperatures have also been derived from the ratio of the nebular continuum Balmer discontinuity to H 11 for 11 PNe. For four of these, the Balmer jump temperatures are more than 1000 K lower than values derived from the [O III] optical collisionally excited diagnostic line ratio. With a difference of 3580 K, NGC 40 has the lowest Balmer jump temperature relative to the [O III] optical forbidden-line temperature. High-order Balmer line decrements

Chemical abundances of planetary nebulae from optical recombination lines - II. Abundances derived from collisionally excited lines and optical recombination lines

In Paper I, we presented spectrophotometric measurements of emission lines from the ultraviolet (UV) to the far-infrared for 12 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) and derived nebular thermal and density structures using a variety of plasma diagnostics. The measurements and plasma diagnostic results are used in the current paper to determine elemental abundances in these nebulae. Abundance analyses are carried out using both strong collisionally excited lines (CELs) and weak optical recombination lines (ORLs) from heavy element ions. Assuming electron temperatures and densities derived from H i recombination spectra (line and continuum), we are able to determine the ORL C abundance relative to hydrogen for all the PNe in our sample, N and O abundances for 11 of them and Ne abundances for nine of them. In all cases, ORL abundances are found to be systematically higher than the corresponding values deduced from CELs. In NGC 40, the discrepancy between the abundances derived from the two types of emission line reaches a factor of 17 for oxygen. For the other 10 PNe, the discrepancies for oxygen vary from 1.6 to 3.1. In general, collisionally excited infrared fine-structure lines, which have excitation energies less than 103 K and consequently emissivities that are insensitive to electron temperature and temperature fluctuations, yield ionic abundances comparable to those derived from optical/UV CELs. For a given nebula, the discrepancies between the ORL and CEL abundances are of similar magnitude for different elements. In other words, relative abundance ratios such as C/O, N/O and Ne/O deduced from the traditional method based on strong CELs are comparable to those yielded by ORLs, for a wide range of ORL to CEL oxygen abundance ratios, varying from near unity to over a factor of 20. We have also determined ORL abundances relative to hydrogen for the third-row element magnesium for 11 nebulae in our sample. In strong contrast to the cases for second-row elements, Mg abundances derived from the Mg ii 3d–4f λ4481 ORL are nearly constant for all the PNe analysed so far and agree within the uncertainties with the solar photospheric value. In accordance with results from previous studies, the ORL to CEL abundance ratio is correlated with the difference between the electron temperatures derived from the [O iii] forbidden-line ratio, on the one hand, and from the hydrogen recombination Balmer discontinuity, on the other. We find that the discrepancy between the ORL and CEL abundances is correlated with nebular absolute diameter, surface brightness, the electron density derived from [S ii] CELs, and excitation class. The results confirm that the dichotomy of temperatures and heavy elemental abundances determined from the two types of emission line, which has been widely observed in PNe, is a strong function of nebular evolution, as first pointed out by Garnett and Dinerstein. Our analyses show that temperature fluctuations and/or density inhomogeneities are incapable of explaining the large discrepancies between the heavy elemental abundances and electron temperatures determined from the two types of emission line. Our analyses support the bi-abundance model of Liu et al., who have proposed that PNe contain another previously unseen component of ionized gas which, highly enriched in heavy elements, has an electron temperature of ≲103 K and emits strongly in recombination lines but not in CELs. Our determinations of low average emission temperatures from the observed line intensity ratios of He i and O ii ORLs lend further support to this scenario.

K 4−47: a planetary nebula excited by photons and shocks

K 4−47 is an unusual planetary nebula (PN) composed of a compact high‐ionization core and a pair of low‐ionization knots. Long‐slit medium‐resolution spectra of the knots and core are analyzed in this paper. Assuming photoionization from the central star, we have derived physical parameters for all the nebular components, and the ionization correction factors (icf) chemical abundances of the core, which appear similar to Type I PNe for He and N/O but significantly deficient in oxygen. The nebula has been further modelled using both photoionization (cloudy) and shock (mappings) codes. From the photoionization modelling of the core, we find that both the strong auroral [O iii] 4363‐Å and [N ii] 5755‐Å emission lines observed and the optical size of the core cannot be accounted for if a homogeneous density is adopted. We suggest that a strong density stratification, matching the high‐density core detected at radio wavelengths and the much lower density of the optical core, might solve the problem. From the bow‐shock modelling of the knots, on the other hand, we find that the chemistry of the knots is also represented by Type I PN abundances, and that they would move with velocities of 250–300 km s−1.

Chemical abundances of planetary nebulae towards the Galactic anticenter

In this paper we report new observations and derive chemical abundances for a sample of 26 planetary nebulae (PN) located in the anticenter direction. Most of these nebulae are far away objects, located at Galactocentric distances greater than about 8 kpc, so that they are particularly useful for the determination of the radial gradients at large distances from the galactic center. A comparison of the present results with previously determined abundances suggests that the radial abundance gradients flatten out at distances larger than about 10 kpc from the center.

Abundances in planetary nebulae: Me 2-1

ISO and IUE spectra of the round planetary nebula Me 2-1 are combined with visual spectra taken from the literature to obtain for the first time a complete extinction-corrected spectrum. With this, the physico-chemical characteristics of the nebula and its central star are determined by various methods including photoionization modeling using Cloudy. The results of the modeling are compared to those derived from a more classical, simple abundance determination approach. A discussion is presented on the validity of the different methods used and assumptions made. Finally, the main results are interpreted in terms of the evolutionary stage of Me 2-1 and its central star.

Electron temperatures and densities of planetary nebulae determined from the nebular hydrogen recombination spectrum and temperature and density variations

A method is presented to derive electron temperatures and densities of planetary nebulae (PNe) simultaneously, using the observed hydrogen recombination spectrum, which includes continuum and line emission. By matching theoretical spectra to observed spectra around the Balmer jump at about 3646 A, we determine electron temperatures and densities for 48 Galactic PNe. The electron temperatures based on this method - hereafter T e (Bal)- are found to be systematically lower than those derived from [O III] λ4959/λ4363 and [O III] (88 μm + 52 μm)/λ4959 ratios- hereafter T e ([O III] na ) and T e ([O III] fn ). The electron densities based on this method are found to be systematically higher than those derived from [O II] λ3729/λ3726, [S II] λ6731/λ6716, [Cl III] λ5537/λ5517, [ArIV] λ4740/λ4711 and [O III] 88 μm/52 μm ratios. These results suggest that temperature and density fluctuations are generally present within nebulae. The comparison of T e ([O III] na ) and T e (Bal) suggests that the fractional mean-square temperature variation (t 2 ) has a representative value of 0.031. A majority of temperatures derived from the T e ([O III] fn ) ratio are found to be higher than those of T e ([O III] na ), which is attributed to the existence of dense clumps in nebulae - those [O III] infrared fine-structure lines are suppressed by collisional de-excitation in the clumps. By comparing T e ([O III] fn ), T e ([O III] na ) and T e (Bal) and assuming a simple two-density-component model, we find that the filling factor of dense clumps has a representative value of 7 x 10 -5 . The discrepancies between T e ([O III] na ) and T e (Bal) are found to be anticorrelated with electron densities derived from various density indicators; high-density nebulae have the smallest temperature discrepancies. This suggests that temperature discrepancy is related to nebular evolution. In addition, He/H abundances of PNe are found to be positively correlated with the difference between T e ([O III] na ) and T e (Bal), suggesting that He/H abundances might have been overestimated generally because of the possible existence of H-deficient knots. Electron temperatures and densities deduced from spectra around the Paschen jump regions at 8250 A are also obtained for four PNe: NGC 7027, NGC 6153, M 1-42 and NGC 7009. Electron densities derived from spectra around the Paschen jump regions are in good agreement with the corresponding values derived from spectra around the Balmer jump, whereas temperatures deduced from the spectra around the Paschen jump are found to be lower than the corresponding values derived from spectra around the Balmer jump for all the four cases. The reason remains unclear.

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 that have been determined for 85 Galactic planetary nebulae in a consistent and homogeneous manner using spectra extending from 3600 to 9600 A. Sulfur abundances have been computed using the near-IR lines of [S III] λλ9069, 9532 along with [S III] temperatures. We find average values, expressed logarithmically with a standard deviation, of log(S/O) = -1.91 ± 0.24, log(Cl/O) = -3.52 ± 0.16, and log(Ar/O) = -2.29 ± 0.18, numbers consistent with previous studies of both planetary nebulae and H II regions. We also find a strong correlation between [O III] and [S III] temperatures among planetary nebulae. In analyzing abundances of Ne, S, Cl, and Ar with respect to O, we find a tight correlation for Ne-O, and loose correlations for Cl-O and Ar-O. All three trends appear to be colinear with observed correlations for H II regions. S and O also show a correlation, but there is a definite offset from the behavior exhibited by H II regions and stars. We suggest that this S anomaly is most easily explained by the existence of S+3, whose abundance must be inferred indirectly when only optical spectra are available, in amounts in excess of what is predicted by model-derived ionization correction factors in PNe. Finally for the disk PNe, abundances of O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar all show gradients when plotted against Galactocentric distance. The slopes are statistically indistinguishable from one another, a result which is consistent with the notion that the cosmic abundances of these elements evolve in lockstep.

New abundances of planetary nebulae in the Galactic Bulge

New observations and derived chemical abundances are reported for a sample of 57 bulge planetary nebulae (PN). Together with our previous results, a total of over a hundred objects have been analyzed, which constitute one of the largest samples of bulge nebulae studied under homogeneous conditions, including equipment and reduction procedures. In general, our data show a good agreement with some recent results in the literature, in the sense that the average abundances of bulge PN are similar to those from disk objects, however showing a larger dispersion.