Rings and arcs around evolved stars – III. Physical conditions of the ring-like structures in the planetary nebula IC 4406 revealed by MUSE

Ramos-Larios, G.; Toalá, J. A.; Rodríguez-González, J. B.; Guerrero, M. A.; Gómez-González, V. M. A.

doi:10.1093/mnras/stac605

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

2022

DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac605

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Rings and arcs around evolved stars – III. Physical conditions of the ring-like structures in the planetary nebula IC 4406 revealed by MUSE

G. Ramos-Larios

J. A. Toalá²,

J. B. Rodríguez-González³

et al.

Abstract: We present the analysis of Very Large Telescope (VLT) Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of the planetary nebula (PN) IC 4406. MUSE images in key emission lines are used to unveil the presence of at least 5 ring-like structures North and South of the main nebula of IC 4406. MUSE spectra are extracted from the rings to unambiguously assess for the first time in a PN their physical conditions, electron density (ne) and temperature (Te). The rings are found to have similar Te than the rim of th… Show more

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Dissecting the planetary nebula NGC 4361 with MUSE

Walsh,

Monreal Ibero,

Laging

et al. 2024

A&A

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Optical integral field spectroscopy of planetary nebulae (PNe) offers a unique tool to explore the spatial relationships between the complex mixture of the many components (neutral, low- and high-ionisation gas, dust, and the central star) and their underlying physical conditions. The optical line and continuum emission in the very-high-ionisation Galactic PN, NGC 4361, were mapped to study the distribution of ionisation, extinction, electron temperature, and density. Based on commissioning data, MUSE Wide Field (60times 60$''$) normal-mode (4750-9300\ observations of NGC 4361 were reduced. The PN is larger than a single MUSE field and only the central 1 arcmin2 of the PN was observed in good conditions. Emission images in recombination and collisionally excited lines were extracted and the line ratios provided the dust extinction, electron density and temperature, and ionic abundances using standard techniques. A family of compact low-ionisation knots (dubbed 'freckles') was discovered and techniques developed to measure their spectra, independently of the extended high-ionisation medium. The nebula is confirmed as optically thin in the H-ionising continuum, based on its very low He i emission, even to the edges of the field. The electron temperature, $T_ e $, is shown to have a large-scale spatially coherent structure, as indicated by a previous long-slit spectrum. Prior to this study, no low-ionisation emission had been positively detected, although MUSE revealed both weak extended N ii and O ii and $>$100 spatially unresolved knots. There are several linear associations of these knots, but none of them point convincingly back to the central star. They have low-to-moderate ionisation with $T_ e $ sim 11000\,K e $ sim 1500 cm$^ $ and generally exhibit a higher extinction than the extended high-ionisation nebula. Within the MUSE field, a low-redshift emission-line galaxy was serendipitously found to be hiding behind NGC 4361. The spectrum of this dwarf galaxy was carefully extracted from the bright foreground nebular emission and the galaxy's line and continuum properties were then determined. NGC 4361 is not completely optically thin, as indicated by several extended regions and many compact features of lower ionisation emission. The low-ionisation 'freckles' identified here do not clearly appear to differ in (He, N, O, S) abundance with respect to the extended high-ionisation gas. The spatial distribution and radial velocities of these features suggest that they belong to a thick disk oriented perpendicular to the large-scale nebular gas, which may perhaps be remnants of an earlier structure. The low-luminosity disk galaxy at sim 87\,Mpc has bright H ii regions with metallicity 12+log(O/H) cong 8.4 and is suggested to be a Magellanic irregular or low-mass spiral.

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Dissecting the planetary nebula NGC 4361 with MUSE

Walsh,

Monreal Ibero,

Laging

et al. 2024

A&A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Dust distribution in planetary nebulae

Pignata,

Weidmann,

Schmidt

et al. 2023

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Planetary nebulae (PN) have long been known to consist of gas, molecules and dust. The vast majority of the work in which properties of the dust of these objects are inferred were carried out through infrared observations. We use a technique that gives information about the dust, without nebular contamination, and regardless of its temperature. The primary objective is to present an atlas of images with the distribution of dust extinction in planetary nebulae. We obtained images in narrow-band filter centred on the nebular emission of the Balmer lines Hα and Hβ to derive extinction images. By combining these images we have been able to achieve the distribution of dust in planetary nebulae. The atlas contains 29 PN, representing the most comprehensive and extensive surveys of dust distribution in PNe.

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Rings and arcs around evolved stars – III. Physical conditions of the ring-like structures in the planetary nebula IC 4406 revealed by MUSE

Cited by 2 publications

References 32 publications

Dissecting the planetary nebula NGC 4361 with MUSE

Dissecting the planetary nebula NGC 4361 with MUSE

Dust distribution in planetary nebulae

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