Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userThe excitation mechanisms and evolutionary stages of UWISH2 planetary nebula candidates
72
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We present medium-resolution K-band long-slit spectroscopy of 29 true, likely, possible and candidate Galactic Plane planetary nebulae (PNe) from the UWISH2 survey - many of which have only been recently discovered. These objects are bright in molecular hydrogen (H2) emission, and many have bipolar morphologies. Through the detection of the Br{gamma} emission line, which traces ionized hydrogen, we find that the majority of the candidate PNe are indeed likely to be PNe, while 2 of the targets are more likely young stellar objects (YSOs) or pre-planetary nebulae (pPNe). We detect Br{gamma} in 13 objects which have no detection in IPHAS or SHS H{alpha} surveys. This implies they are potential members of the little-known optically-obscured PN population, hidden from wide-field optical surveys. We use the spatial extent of the H2 1-0 S(1) and Br{gamma} lines to estimate the evolutionary stage of our targets, and find that W-BPNe (bipolar PNe with pinched waist morphologies) are likely to be younger objects, while R-BPNe (bipolar PNe with large ring structures) are more evolved. We use line ratios to trace the excitation mechanism of the H2, and find the 1-0 S(1) / 2-1 S(1) and 1-0 S(1) / Br{gamma} ratios are higher for R-BPNe, implying the H2 is thermally excited. However, in W-BPNe, these ratios are lower, and so UV-fluorescence may be contributing to the excitation of H2.
rate research
Read More
The planetary nebula (PN) NGC 5189 around a Wolf-Rayet [WO] central star demonstrates one of the most remarkable complex morphologies among PNe with many multi-scale structures, showing evidence of multiple outbursts from an AGB progenitor. In this study we use multi-wavelength Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) observations to study the morphology of the inner 0.3 pc $times$ 0.2 pc region surrounding the central binary that appears to be a relic of a more recent outburst of the progenitor AGB star. We applied diagnostic diagrams based on emission line ratios of H$alpha$ $lambda$6563, [O III] $lambda$5007, and [S II] $lambdalambda$6717,6731 images to identify the location and morphology of low-ionization structures within the inner nebula. We distinguished two inner, low-ionization envelopes from the ionized gas, within a radius of 55 arcsec ($sim$ 0.15 pc) extending from the central star: a large envelope expanding toward the northeast, and its smaller counterpart envelope in the opposite direction toward the southwest of the nebula. These low-ionization envelopes are surrounded by a highly-ionized gaseous environment. We believe that these low-ionization expanding envelopes are a result of a powerful outburst from the post-AGB star that created shocked wind regions as they propagate through the previously expelled material along a symmetric axis. Our diagnostic mapping using high-angular resolution line emission imaging can provide a novel approach to detection of low-ionization regions in other PNe, especially those showing a complex multi-scale morphology.
The ACIS-S camera on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory has been used to discover a hot bubble in the planetary nebula (PN) IC4593, the most distant PN detected by Chandra so far. The data are used to study the distribution of the X-ray-emitting gas in IC 4593 and to estimate its physical properties. The hot bubble has a radius of ~2$^{primeprime}$ and is found to be confined inside the optically-bright innermost cavity of IC 4593. The X-ray emission is mostly consistent with that of an optically-thin plasma with temperature $kTapprox0.15$ keV (or $T_mathrm{X}approx1.7times10^{6}$ K), electron density $n_mathrm{e}approx15$ cm$^{-3}$, and intrinsic X-ray luminosity in the 0.3-1.5 keV energy range $L_mathrm{X}=3.4times10^{30}$ erg s$^{-1}$. A careful analysis of the distribution of hard ($E>$0.8 keV) photons in IC 4593 suggests the presence of X-ray emission from a point source likely associated with its central star (CSPN). If this were the case, its estimated X-ray luminosity would be $L_mathrm{X,CSPN}=7times10^{29}$ erg s$^{-1}$, fulfilling the log$(L_mathrm{X,CSPN}/L_mathrm{bol})approx-7$ relation for self-shocking winds in hot stars. The X-ray detection of the CSPN helps explain the presence of high-ionisation species detected in the UV spectra as predicted by stellar atmosphere models.
Near-infrared imaging in the 1 - 0 S(1) emission line of molecular hydrogen is able to detect planetary nebulae (PNe) that are hidden from optical emission line surveys. We present images of 307 objects from the UWISH2 survey of the northern Galactic Plane, and with the aid of mid-infrared colour diagnostics draw up a list of 291 PN candidates. The majority, 183, are new detections and 85 per cent of these are not present in H$alpha$ surveys of the region. We find that more than half (54 per cent) of objects have a bipolar morphology and that some objects previously considered as elliptical or point-source in H$alpha$ imaging, appear bipolar in UWISH2 images. By considering a small subset of objects for which physical radii are available from the H$alpha$ surface brightness-radius relation, we find evidence that the H2 surface brightness remains roughly constant over a factor 20 range of radii from 0.03 to 0.6 pc, encompassing most of the visible lifetime of a PN. This leads to the H$alpha$ surface brightness becoming comparable to that of H2 at large radius (> 0:5 pc). By combining the number of UWISH2 PNe without H$alpha$ detection with an estimate of the PN detection efficiency in H2 emission, we estimate that PN numbers from H$alpha$ surveys may underestimate the true PN number by a factor between 1.5 and 2.5 within the UWISH2 survey area.
We observed three high-mass star-forming regions in the W3 high-mass star formation complex with the Submillimeter Array and IRAM 30 m telescope. These regions, i.e. W3 SMS1 (W3 IRS5), SMS2 (W3 IRS4) and SMS3, are in different evolutionary stages and are located within the same large-scale environment, which allows us to study rotation and outflows as well as chemical properties in an evolutionary sense. While we find multiple mm continuum sources toward all regions, these three sub-regions exhibit different dynamical and chemical properties, which indicates that they are in different evolutionary stages. Even within each subregion, massive cores of different ages are found, e.g. in SMS2, sub-sources from the most evolved UCHII region to potential starless cores exist within 30 000 AU of each other. Outflows and rotational structures are found in SMS1 and SMS2. Evidence for interactions between the molecular cloud and the HII regions is found in the 13CO channel maps, which may indicate triggered star formation.
The HASH (Hong Kong/ AAO/ Strasbourg/ H{alpha}) planetary nebula research platform is a unique data repository with a graphical interface and SQL capability that offers the community powerful, new ways to undertake Galactic PN studies. HASH currently contains multi-wavelength images, spectra, positions, sizes, morphologies and other data whenever available for 2401 true, 447 likely, and 692 possible Galactic PNe, for a total of 3540 objects. An additional 620 Galactic post-AGB stars, pre-PNe, and PPN candidates are included. All objects were classified and evaluated following the precepts and procedures established and developed by our group over the last 15 years. The complete database contains over 6,700 Galactic objects including the many mimics and related phenomena previously mistaken or confused with PNe. Curation and updating currently occurs on a weekly basis to keep the repository as up to date as possible until the official release of HASH v1 planned in the near future.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
