No Arabic abstract
We present preliminary results obtained from the analysis of very deep echelle spectra of a dozen planetary nebulae with [WC] or weak emission lines (wels) central stars. The computed abundance discrepancy factors (ADFs) are moderate, with values lower than 4. In principle, no evidence of the H-poor metal enriched inclusions proposed by Liu et al. (2000) have been found. However, a detailed analysis of the data is in progress.
(Abridged) We present the abundance analysis of 12 PNe ionized by [WC]-type stars and wels obtained from high-resolution spectrophotometric data. Our main aims are to determine the chemical composition of the PNe and to study the behaviour of the abundance discrepancy problem (ADF) in this type of planetary nebulae. The detection of a large number of optical recombination lines (ORLs) and collisionally excited lines (CELs) from different ions were presented previously. Most of the ORLs were reported for the first time in these PNe. Ionic abundances were derived from the available CELs and ORLs, using previously determined physical conditions. Based on these two sets of ionic abundances, we derived the total chemical abundances in the nebulae using suitable ICFs (when available). In spite of the [WC] nature of the central stars, moderate ADF(O^++), in the range from 1.2 to 4, were found for all the objects. We found that when the quality of the spectra is high enough the ORLs O^++/H^+ abundance ratios obtained from different multiplets excited mainly by recombination are very similar. Possible dependence of ADFs with some nebular characteristics were analysed, finding no correlation. Abundances derived from CELs were corrected by determining the t^2 parameter. O abundances for PNe, derived from ORLs, are in general larger than the solar abundance. We derived the C/O ratio from ORLs and N/O and alpha-element/O ratios from CELs and found that these PNe are, in average, N-and C-richer than the average of large PN samples. About half of our sample is C-rich (C/O>1). The alpha-elements grow in lockstep with O abundance. Comparing the N/O and C /O ratios with those derived from stellar evolution models, we estimate that about half of our PNe have progenitors with initial masses > 4 M_sun. No correlation was found between the stellar [WC]-type and the nebular abundances.
(Abridged) Planetary nebulae (PNe) around Wolf-Rayet [WR] central stars ([WR]PNe) constitute a particular photoionized nebula class that represents about 10% of the PNe with classified central stars. We analyse deep high-resolution spectrophotometric data of 12 [WR]PNe. This sample represents the most extensive analysed so far, at such high spectral resolution. We aim to select the optimal physical conditions in the PNe to be used in ionic abundance calculations that will be presented in a forthcoming paper. We acquired spectra at LCO with the 6.5-m telescope and the MIKE spectrograph, covering a wavelength range from 3350 to 9400 A. The spectra were exposed deep enough to detect, with signal-to-noise ratio higher than three, the weak ORLs of OII, CII, and other species. We detect and identify about 2980 emission lines, which, to date, is the most complete set of spectrophotometric data published for this type of objects. From our deep data, numerous diagnostic line ratios for Te and Ne are determined from CELs, ORLs, and continuum measurements. Densities are closely described by the average of all determined values for objects with ne<10^4 cm-3, and by ne([Cl III]) for the densest objects. For Te, we adopt a three-zone ionization scheme, where the low ionization zone is characterized by Te([NII]), the medium ionization zone by Te([OIII]) and the highest ionization one by Te([ArIV]) when available. We compute Te from the HI Paschen discontinuity and from HeI lines. We do not find evidences of the presence of low-temperature, high-density clumps in our [WR]PNe from the analysis of faint O II and N II plasma diagnostics. The behaviour of Te([OIII])/Te([NII]) being very low for high ionization degrees can be reproduced by a set of combined matter-bounded and radiation-bounded models, however, for the lowest temperature ratios, too high metallicity seem required.
According to previous spectral analyses of Wolf-Rayet type central stars, late [WC] subtypes show systematically higher carbon-to-helium abundance ratios than early [WC] subtypes. If this were true, it would rule out that these stars form an evolutionary sequence. However, due to the different parameter domains and diagnostic lines, one might suspect systematic errors being the source of this discrepancy. In an ongoing project we are therefore checking the [WC] analyses by means of the last generation of non-LTE models for expanding stellar atmospheres which account for line-blanketing and wind clumping. So far, the abundance discrepancy is not resolved. Further element abundances (H, N, Fe) are determined and compared with evolutionary predictions.
[WC]-type CSPNs are hydrogen-deficient Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae showing strong stellar winds and a carbon-rich chemistry. We have analyzed new high-resolution spectra of [WC]-type CSPNs with the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) non-LTE expanding atmosphere models, using upgraded model atoms and atomic data. Previous analyses are repeated on the basis of the current models which account for iron-line blanketing. We especially focus on determining the chemical composition, including some trace elements like nitrogen which are of key importance for understanding the evolutionary origin of the hydrogen-deficient Central Stars.
We present spatially resolved high-resolution spectrophotometric data for the planetary nebulae PB8, NGC2867, and PB6. We have analyzed two knots in NGC2867 and PB6 and one in PB8. The three nebulae are ionized by [WC] type nuclei: early [WO] for PB6 and NGC2867 and [WC 5-6] in the case of PB8. Our aim is to study the behavior of the abundance discrepancy problem (ADF) in this type of PNe. We measured a large number of optical recombination (ORL) and collisionally excited lines (CEL), from different ionization stages (many more than in any previous work), thus, we were able to derive physical conditions from many different diagnostic procedures. We determined ionic abundances from the available collisionally excited lines and recombination lines. Based on both sets of ionic abundances, we derived total chemical abundances in the nebulae using suitable ionization correction factors. From CELs, we have found abundances typical of Galactic disk planetary nebulae. Moderate ADF(O++) were found for PB8 (2.57) and NGC2867 (1.63). For NGC2867, abundances from ORLs are higher but still consistent with Galactic disk planetary nebulae. On the contrary, PB8 presents a very high O/H ratio from ORLs. A high C/O was obtained from ORLs for NGC2867; this ratio is similar to C/O obtained from CELs and with the chemical composition of the wind of the central star, indicating that there was no further C-enrichment in the star, relative to O, after the nebular material ejection. On the contrary, we found C/O<1 in PB8. Interestingly, we obtain (C/O)ORLs/(C/O)CELs < 1 in PB8 and NGC2867; this added to the similarity between the heliocentric velocities measured in [OIII] and OII lines for our three objects, argue against the presence of H-deficient metal-rich knots coming from a late thermal pulse event.