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Planetary Nebula Abundances and Morphology: Probing the Chemical Evolution of the Milky Way
This paper presents a homogeneous study of abundances in a sample of 79northern Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) whose morphological classeshave been uniformly determined. Ionic abundances and plasma diagnosticswere derived from selected optical line strengths in the literature, andelemental abundances were estimated with the ionization correctionfactor developed by Kingsbourgh & Barlow in 1994. We compare theelemental abundances to the final yields obtained from stellar evolutionmodels of low- and intermediate-mass stars, and we confirm that mostbipolar PNe have high nitrogen and helium abundance and are the likelyprogeny of stars with main-sequence mass greater than 3Msolar. We derive =0.27 and discuss the implication of such ahigh ratio in connection with the solar neon abundance. We determine theGalactic gradients of oxygen and neon and foundΔlog(O/H)/ΔR=-0.01 dex kpc-1 andΔlog(Ne/H)/ΔR=-0.01 dex kpc-1. These flat PNgradients are irreconcilable with Galactic metallicity gradientsflattening with time.

The importance of soft X-rays for the excitation of H2 emission in planetary nebulae
We note that H2 emitting planetary nebulae tend to haveZanstra temperatures TZ(HeII) > 90 kK. This is shown to beconsistent with a large evolutionary lifetime, and the kinematic ages ofthe envelopes. Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium stellar atmosphericmodelling also shows that levels of soft X-ray emission increase morerapidly than has previously been assumed, and are preferentially largein H2 emitting sources. It is suggested that this may holdthe key to explaining the strengths of the H2 transitions.

The Use of K_S Band Photometric Excesses to Investigate H(2) Emission in Planetary Nebulae
We have determined the distribution of H(2) emission in 14 planetarynebulae (PNe), using imaging and photometry published by the 2MASSinfrared survey. This technique is only applicable under certainstringent conditions, and requires precise broad band photometry, andaccurate spatial registration between the K_S and H band images. It is,in addition, only applicable to certain sources, and excludes outflowsin which central star and grain thermal excesses are appreciable. Ourresults for NGC 3132, NGC 6720, IC 4406 and M 2-9 are closely similar tothose of previous narrow band imaging, and confirm that H(2) emissionis confined to narrow, highly fragmented shells. Similar results areobtained for M 1-7, M 1-8, and M 3-5. Our spatial profiles also confirmthat the emission extends outside of the primary ionised shells. Whereenvelopes are large, and the PNe are more evolved, then the fractionalextensions Deltatheta/$theta appear to be at their smallest. They arealso similar to the radial widths predicted for H(2) abundanceprofiles, and to the values DeltaR/R determined throughmagnetohydrodynamic modelling of shocks. There appears, finally, to beevidence for an evolution in this parameter, such that Deltatheta/$thetavaries with increasing envelope size d(H) as Deltatheta/$theta ~d(H)(-2.2) .

Hot dust haloes in planetary nebulae
We point out that many planetary nebulae (PNe) have large infraredindices (H-KS), and that this is likely to result from thepresence of hot grains, and/or H2 S(1) line emission atλ= 2.122μm. We are able to identify two groups of sourcesassociated with each of these mechanisms, both of which appear topossess distinct physical characteristics. One difference between thesegroups concerns the near-infrared dimensions of the sources. It appearsthat hot dust outflows frequently have sizes θ(KS)> θ(H) > θ(J). Four of the sources are particularlyextreme in this regard, and show emission extending well outside of theprimary shells. We propose that this is likely to arise fromhigh-temperature grains located in low-density haloes. The location ofsuch grains at large distances from the central stars represents achallenge for any mechanism purporting to explain this phenomenon. Themost likely explanation appears to be in terms of photon heating of verysmall grains.

The 3-D shaping of NGC 6741: A massive, fast-evolving Planetary Nebula at the recombination-reionization edge
We infer the gas kinematics, diagnostics and ionic radial profiles,distance and central star parameters, nebular photo-ionization model,spatial structure and evolutionary phase of the Planetary Nebula NGC6741 by means of long-slit ESO NTT+EMMI high-resolution spectra at nineposition angles, reduced and analysed according to the tomographic and3-D methodologies developed at the Astronomical Observatory of Padua(Italy). NGC 6741 (distance≃2.0 kpc, age≃ 1400 yr, ionizedmass Mion≃ 0.06 Mȯ) is a dense(electron density up to 12 000 cm-3), high-excitation,almost-prolate ellipsoid (0.036 pc × 0.020 pc × 0.018 pc,major, intermediate and minor semi-axes, respectively), surrounded by asharp low-excitation skin (the ionization front), and embedded in aspherical (radius≃ 0.080 pc), almost-neutral, high-density (n(HI)≃ 7 ×103 atoms cm-3) halo containinga large fraction of the nebular mass (Mhalo≥ 0.20Mȯ). The kinematics, physical conditions and ionicstructure indicate that NGC 6741 is in a deep recombination phase,started about 200 years ago, and caused by the rapid luminosity drop ofthe massive (M*=0.66{-}0.68 Mȯ), hot (logT* ≃ 5.23) and faint (logL*/Lȯ ≃ 2.75) post-AGB star, which hasexhausted the hydrogen-shell nuclear burning and is moving along thewhite dwarf cooling sequence. The general expansion law of the ionizedgas in NGC 6741, Vexp(km s-1)=13 × R arcsec,fails in the innermost, highest-excitation layers, which move slowerthan expected. The observed deceleration is ascribable to the luminositydrop of the central star (the decreasing pressure of the hot-bubble nolonger balances the pressure of the ionized gas), and appears instriking contrast to recent reports inferring that acceleration is acommon property of the Planetary Nebulae innermost layers. A detailedcomparative analysis proves that the "U"-shaped expansion velocity fieldis a spurious, incorrect result due to a combination of: (a) simplisticassumptions (spherical shell hypothesis for the nebula); (b) unfitreduction method (emission profiles integrated along the slit); and (c)inappropriate diagnostic choice (λ4686 Å of He II, i.e. athirteen fine-structure components recombination line). Some generalimplications for the shaping mechanisms of Planetary Nebulae arediscussed.

Planetary nebula distances re-examined: an improved statistical scale
The distances of planetary nebulae (PNe) are still quite uncertain.Although observational estimates are available for a small proportion ofPNe, based on statistical parallax and the like, such distances are verypoorly determined for the majority of galactic PNe. In particular,estimates of so-called `statistical' distance appear to differ byfactors of ~2.7.We point out that there is a well-defined correlation between the 5-GHzluminosity of the sources, L5, and their brightnesstemperatures, TB. This represents a different trend to thoseinvestigated in previous statistical analyses, and permits us todetermine independent distances to a further 449 outflows. Thesedistances are shown to be closely comparable to those determined using aTB-R correlation, providing that the latter trend is taken tobe non-linear.This non-linearity in the TB-R plane has not been noted inprevious analyses, and is likely responsible for the broad (andconflicting) ranges of distance that have previously been published.Finally, we point out that there is a close accord between observedtrends within the L5-TB and TB-Rplanes, and the variation predicted through nebular evolutionarymodelling. This is used to suggest that observational biases areprobably modest, and that our revised distance scale is reasonablytrustworthy.

Planetary Nebulae with H[2] Emission
We review the emission of molecular hydrogen (H[2]) in planetary nebulae(PNe) and we discuss the association between this emission and thebipolar morphology of the objects. We describe the energy levels of thehydrogen molecule, the main excitation mechanisms (shocks andfluorescence) and the ways of discrimination between the differentexcitation mechanisms. We propose another way of identification of theexcitation mechanism based on H[2] kinematical studies. We presentpreliminary results of the H[2] kinematics we are conducting on a sampleof five bipolar PNe. By means of this study we are able of identifyingshocks as the main excitation mechanism of the H[2] emission lines inthese objects. We have also estimated the masses of the H[2] gas inthese PNe and the result implies that the progenitor's masses of theseobjects are larger than those of typical PNe progenitors.

The relation between Zanstra temperature and morphology in planetary nebulae
We have created a master list of Zanstra temperatures for 373 galacticplanetary nebulae based upon a compilation of 1575 values taken from thepublished literature. These are used to evaluate mean trends intemperature for differing nebular morphologies. Among the most prominentresults of this analysis is the tendency forη=TZ(HeII)/TZ(HeI) to increase with nebularradius, a trend which is taken to arise from the evolution of shelloptical depths. We find that as many as 87 per cent of nebulae may beoptically thin to H ionizing radiation where radii exceed ~0.16 pc. Wealso note that the distributions of values η and TZ(HeII)are quite different for circular, elliptical and bipolar nebulae. Acomparison of observed temperatures with theoretical H-burning trackssuggests that elliptical and circular sources arise from progenitorswith mean mass ≅ 1 Msolar(although the elliptical progenitors are probably more massive).Higher-temperature elliptical sources are likely to derive fromprogenitors with mass ≅2 Msolar, however, implying thatthese nebulae (at least) are associated with a broad swathe ofprogenitor masses. Such a conclusion is also supported by trends in meangalactic latitude. It is found that higher-temperature ellipticalsources have much lower mean latitudes than those with smallerTZ(HeII), a trend which is explicable where there is anincrease in with increasing TZ(HeII).This latitude-temperature variation also applies for most other sources.Bipolar nebulae appear to have mean progenitor masses ≅2.5Msolar, whilst jets, Brets and other highly collimatedoutflows are associated with progenitors at the other end of the massrange (~ 1 Msolar). Indeed it ispossible, given their large mean latitudes and low peak temperatures,that the latter nebulae are associated with the lowest-mass progenitorsof all.The present results appear fully consistent with earlier analyses basedupon nebular scale heights, shell abundances and the relativeproportions of differing morphologies, and offer further evidence for alink between progenitor mass and morphology.

Near-infrared spectroscopy of (proto)-planetary nebulae: molecular hydrogen excitation as an evolutionary tracer
We present an in-depth analysis of molecular excitation in 11H2-bright planetary and protoplanetary nebulae (PN and PPN).From newly acquired K-band observations, we extract a number of spectraat positions across each source. H2 line intensities areplotted on `column density ratio' diagrams so that we may examine theexcitation in and across each region. To achieve this, we combine theshock models of Smith, Khanzadyan & Davis with the photodissociationregion (PDR) models of Black & van Dishoeck to yield ashock-plus-fluorescence fit to each data set.Although the combined shock + fluorescence model is needed to explainthe low- and high-energy H2 lines in most of the sourcesobserved (fluorescence accounts for much of the emission from thehigher-energy H2 lines), the relative importance of shocksover fluorescence does seem to change with evolutionary status. We findthat shock excitation may well be the dominant excitation mechanism inthe least evolved PPN (CRL 2688 - in both the bipolar lobes and in theequatorial plane) and in the most evolved PN considered (NGC 7048).Fluorescence, on the other hand, becomes more important at intermediateevolutionary stages (i.e. in `young' PN), particularly in the inner coreregions and along the inner edges of the expanding post-asymptotic giantbranch (AGB) envelope. Since H2 line emission seems to beproduced in almost all stages of post-AGB evolution, H2excitation may prove to be a useful probe of the evolutionary status ofPPN and PN alike. Moreover, shocks may play an important role in themolecular gas excitation in (P)PN, in addition to the low- and/orhigh-density fluorescence usually attributed to the excitation in thesesources.

Galactic Planetary Nebulae and their central stars. I. An accurate and homogeneous set of coordinates
We have used the 2nd generation of the Guide Star Catalogue (GSC-II) asa reference astrometric catalogue to compile the positions of 1086Galactic Planetary Nebulae (PNe) listed in the Strasbourg ESO Catalogue(SEC), its supplement and the version 2000 of the Catalogue of PlanetaryNebulae. This constitutes about 75% of all known PNe. For these PNe, theones with a known central star (CS) or with a small diameter, we havederived coordinates with an absolute accuracy of ~0\farcs35 in eachcoordinate, which is the intrinsic astrometric precision of the GSC-II.For another 226, mostly extended, objects without a GSC-II counterpartwe give coordinates based on the second epoch Digital Sky Survey(DSS-II). While these coordinates may have systematic offsets relativeto the GSC-II of up to 5 arcsecs, our new coordinates usually representa significant improvement over the previous catalogue values for theselarge objects. This is the first truly homogeneous compilation of PNepositions over the whole sky and the most accurate one available so far.The complete Table \ref{tab2} is only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/408/1029}

NIR Fabry-Perot Imaging Spectroscopy of PNe
Not Available

The Correlations between Planetary Nebula Morphology and Central Star Evolution: Analysis of the Northern Galactic Sample
Northern Galactic planetary nebulae (PNs) are studied to disclosepossible correlations between the morphology of the nebulae and theevolution of the central stars (CSs). To this end, we have built thebest database available to date, accounting for homogeneity andcompleteness. We use updated statistical distances and an updatedmorphological classification scheme, and we calculate Zanstratemperatures for a large sample of PNs. With our study we confirm thatround, elliptical, and bipolar PNs have different spatial distributionswithin the Galaxy, with average absolute distances to the Galactic planeof 0.73, 0.38, and 0.21 kpc, respectively. We also find evidence thatthe distributions of the CS masses are different across thesemorphological groups, although we do not find that CSs hosted by bipolarPNs are hotter, on average, than CSs within round and elliptical PNs.Our results are in broad agreement with previous analyses, indicatingthat round, elliptical, and bipolar PNs evolve from progenitors indifferent mass ranges and might belong to different stellar populations,as also indicated by the helium and nitrogen abundances of PNs ofdifferent morphology.

The distance scale of planetary nebulae
By collecting distances from the literature, a set of 73 planetarynebulae with mean distances of high accuracy is derived. This sample isused for recalibration of the mass-radius relationship, used by manystatistical distance methods. An attempt to correct for a statisticalpeculiarity, where errors in the distances influences the mass-radiusrelationship by increasing its slope, has been made for the first time.Distances to PNe in the Galactic Bulge, derived by this new method aswell as other statistical methods from the last decade, are then usedfor the evaluation of these methods as distance indicators. In order ofachieving a Bulge sample that is free from outliers we derive newcriteria for Bulge membership. These criteria are much more stringentthan those used hitherto, in the sense that they also discriminateagainst background objects. By splitting our Bulge sample in two, onewith optically thick (small) PNe and one with optically thin (large)PNe, we find that our calibration is of higher accuracy than most othercalibrations. Differences between the two subsamples, we believe, aredue to the incompleteness of the Bulge sample, as well as the dominanceof optical diameters in the ``thin'' sample and radio diameters in the``thick'' sample. Our final conclusion is that statistical methods givedistances that are at least as accurate as the ones obtained from manyindividual methods. Also, the ``long'' distance scale of Galactic PNe isconfirmed.

An analysis of the observed radio emission from planetary nebulae
We have analysed the radio fluxes for 264 planetary nebulae for whichreliable measurements of fluxes at 1.4 and 5 GHz, and of nebulardiameters are available. For many of the investigated nebulae, theoptical thickness is important, especially at 1.4 GHz. Simple modelslike the one specified only by a single optical thickness or spherical,constant density shells do not account satisfactorily for theobservations. Also an r-2 density distribution is ruled out.A reasonable representation of the observations can be obtained by atwo-component model having regions of two different values of opticalthickness. We show that the nebular diameters smaller than 10arcsec areuncertain, particularly if they come from photographic plates orGaussian fitting to the radio profile. While determining theinterstellar extinction from an optical to radio flux ratio, cautionshould be paid regarding optical thickness effects in the radio. We havedeveloped a method for estimating the value of self absorption. At 1.4GHz self absorption of the flux is usually important and can exceed afactor of 10. At 5 GHz self absorption is negligible for most of theobjects, although in some cases it can reach a factor of 2. The Galacticbulge planetary nebulae when used to calibrate the Shklovsky method givea mean nebular mass of 0.14 Msun. The statistical uncertaintyof the Shklovsky distances is smaller than a factor of 1.5. Table 1 isonly available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org.

The dust content of planetary nebulae: a reappraisal
We have performed a statistical analysis using broad band IRAS data onabout 500 planetary nebulae with the aim of characterizing their dustcontent. Our approach is different from previous studies in that it usesan extensive grid of photoionization models to test the methods forderiving the dust temperature, the dust-to-gas mass ratio and theaverage grain size. In addition, we use only distance independentdiagrams. With our models, we show the effect of contamination by atomiclines in the broad band IRAS fluxes during planetary nebula evolution.We find that planetary nebulae with very different dust-to-gas massratios exist, so that the dust content is a primordial parameter for theinterpretation of far infrared data of planetary nebulae. In contrastwith previous studies, we find no evidence for a decrease in thedust-to-gas mass ratio as the planetary nebulae evolve. We also showthat the decrease in grain size advocated by Natta & Panagia(\cite{NattaPanagia}) and Lenzuni et al. (\cite{Lenzuni}) is an artefactof their method of analysis. Our results suggest that the timescale fordestruction of dust grains in planetary nebulae is larger than theirlifetime. Table~1 is only accessible in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html

Shaping Bipolar and Elliptical Planetary Nebulae: Effects of Stellar Rotation, Photoionization Heating, and Magnetic Fields
We present two-dimensional hydrodynamical and magnetohydrodynamicalsimulations of the evolution of planetary nebulae formed through theinteraction of two succeeding, time-independent stellar winds. Bothwinds are modeled according to a consistent physical prescription forthe latitudinal dependence of their properties. We propose that singlestars with initial masses above ~1.3 M_solar can achieve near-criticalrotation rates during their ``superwind'' phase at the tip of theasymptotic giant branch (AGB). We show that the resulting equatoriallyconfined winds and their subsequent inflation to a double lobe structureby the post-AGB wind leads to the typical hourglass shape found in manyplanetary nebulae, such as MyCn 18. Following Chevalier & Luo andRóżyczka & Franco, we then combine the effect of amagnetic field in the post-AGB wind with rotating AGB winds. We obtainhighly collimated bipolar nebula shapes, reminiscent of M2-9 or He2-437. For sufficiently strong fields, ansae and jets, similar to thoseobserved in IC 4593 are formed in the polar regions of the nebula.Weaker fields are found to be able to account for the shapes ofclassical elliptical nebulae, e.g., NGC 6905, in the case of sphericallysymmetric AGB winds, which we propose for single stars with initialmasses below ~1.3 M_solar. Photoionization, via instabilities in theionization-shock front, can generate irregularities in the shape of thesimulated nebulae. In particular, it leads to the formation of cometaryknots, similar to those seen in the Helix nebula (NGC 7293). This effectmay also be responsible for large-scale irregularities like those foundin Sh 2-71 or WeSb 4. We arrive at a scenario in which the majority ofthe planetary nebula with their diverse morphologies is obtained fromsingle stars. This scenario is consistent with the Galactic distributionof the different nebula types, since spherical and ellipticalnebulae-which have a distribution with a large scale height above theGalactic plane-are ascribed to progenitor masses below ~1.3 M_solar,with magnetic effects introducing ellipticities. Bipolar nebulae, on theother hand-which are on average closer to the Galactic plane-are foundto stem from progenitors with initial masses above ~1.3 M_solar.

Electron densities in planetary nebulae, and the unusual characteristics of the [S BT II] emission zone} ] densities in planetary nebulae
We investigate the radial variation of electron densities in planetarynebulae, using values of ne deriving from the [S ii]<~mbda6717/<~mbda6730 line ratio. As a result, we are able to showthat there is a sharp discontinuity in densities of order 1.4 dex closeto nebular radii R=0.1 pc. It is proposed, as a consequence, that mostnebulae contain two primary [S ii] emission zones, with densitiesdiffering by a factor ~ 10(2) . The intensity of emission from thedenser component increases by an order of magnitude where nebulae passfrom radiation to density-bound expansion regimes, resulting in acorresponding discontinuous jump in [S ii]/Hβ line ratios. Theorigins of these changes are not entirely clear, although one mechanismis investigated whereby the superwind outflows shock interact withexterior AGB envelopes. Finally, the derived trends in ne(R)are used to determine distances for a further 262 nebulae. The resultingdistance scale appears to be comparable to that of Daub (1982) and Cahnet al. (1992).

The kinematics of 867 galactic planetary nebulae
We present a compilation of radial velocities of 867 galactic planetarynebulae. Almost 900 new measurements are included. Previously publishedkinematical data are compared with the new high-resolution data toassess their accuracies. One of the largest samples in the literatureshows evidence for a systematic velocity offset. We calculate weightedaverages between all available data. Of the final values in thecatalogue, 90% have accuracies better than 20 km s(-1) . We use thiscompilation to derive kinematical parameters of the galacticdifferential rotation obtained from least-square fitting and toestablish the Disk rotation curve; we find no significal trend for thepresence of an increasing external rotation curve. We examine also therotation of the bulge; the derived curve is consistent with a linearlyincreasing rotation velocity with l: we find V_b,r=(9.9+/-1.3)l -(6.7+/-8.5) km s(-1) . A possible steeper gradient in the innermostregion is indicated. Table 2 is available in electronic form only, viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html

Planetary Nebulae in the NRAO VLA Sky Survey
The 1.4 GHz NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) images and source catalog wereused to detect radio emission from the 885 planetary nebulae north ofJ2000 declination delta = -40 deg in the Strasbourg-ESO Catalogue ofGalactic Planetary Nebulae. We identified 680 radio sources brighterthan about S = 2.5 mJy beam-1 (equivalent to T ~ 0.8 K in the 45" FWHMNVSS beam) with planetary nebulae by coincidence with accurate opticalpositions measured from Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) images. Totalextinction coefficients c at lambda = 4861 Angstroms were calculated forthe 429 planetary nebulae with available H beta fluxes and low free-freeoptical depths at 1.4 GHz. The variation of c with Galactic latitude andlongitude is consistent with the extinction being primarily interstellarand not intrinsic.

A Morphological Study of Planetary Nebulae
We have produced simulated images of 110 planetary nebulae using theellipsoidal shell model. This process has allowed us to remove theprojection effects from the morphological classification of planetarynebulae and has provided quantitative measures of the intrinsicasymmetries of the nebulae. It is shown that the morphology of mostplanetary nebulae can be reproduced with pole-to-equator density ratiosof 0.1-1. Many planetary nebulae also show a modest departure from axialsymmetry. Contrary to previous findings by Khromov & Kohoutek, thesky orientation of planetary nebulae in this sample is consistent with apurely random distribution. Extremely bipolar nebulae (e.g., those ofbutterfly shape) point to a steep density profile in the AGB envelopeand are more likely to be type I (high helium and/or nitrogen abundance)nebulae. We found evidence that these nebulae are likely to have moremassive progenitors and are at a more advanced stage of dynamicalevolution.

Properties That Cannot Be Explained by the Progenitors of Planetary Nebulae
I classify a large number of planetary nebulae (458) according to theprocess that caused their progenitors to blow axisymmetrical winds. Theclassification is based primarily on the morphologies of the differentplanetary nebulae, assuming that binary companions, stellar orsubstellar, are necessary in order to have axisymmetrical mass loss onthe asymptotic giant branch. I propose four evolutionary classes,according to the binary-model hypothesis: (1) Progenitors of planetarynebula that did not interact with any companion. These amount to ~10% ofall planetary nebulae. (2) Progenitors that interact with stellarcompanions that avoided a common envelope, 11^{+2}_{-3}% of all nebulae.(3) Progenitors that interact with stellar companions via a commonenvelope phase, 23^{+11}_{-5}% of all nebulae. (4) Progenitors thatinteract with substellar (i.e., planets and brown dwarfs) companions viaa common envelope phase, 56^{+5}_{-8}% of all nebulae. In order todefine and build the different classes, I start with clarifying somerelevant terms and processes related to binary evolution. I then discusskinematical and morphological properties of planetary nebulae thatappear to require the interaction of the planetary nebula progenitorsand/or their winds with companions, stellar or substellar.

A Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope 327 MHz Survey of the Galactic Plane
The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) has been used to surveythe Galactic plane region 42^deg^ < l < 92^deg^ at a frequency of327 MHz. We present images of the emission within |b| < 1.6^deg^ atresolution of 1' x 1' csc δ and detection level as low as 10 mJybeam^-1^. Inspection of the survey image has produced a catalog ofnearly 4000 discrete sources with sizes less than about ~3'. The catalogof these sources and FITS files of seven images covering the survey areaare available on the World Wide Web athttp://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/wsrt_survey.html. Approximately 15% of thesources are resolved, with dimensions of 1'- 3'. The spatialdistribution of resolved sources shows concentrations toward the spiralarms and follows the warping of the Galactic disk over the length of thesurvey region, indicating that a sizable fraction is Galactic. Spectralindices are calculated for 1313 sources detected in other radio surveysat frequencies greater than 408 MHz. The resolved sources exhibit abimodal spectral index distribution, with distinct nonthermal andthermal populations. Comparison with the IRAS Point Source Catalogueresults in 118 identifications between WSRT and IRAS sources. Most ofthese are thermal radio sources associated with compact Galactic objectssuch as H II regions and planetary nebulae. A search for variabilityamong 2148 of the compact sources has resulted in 29 candidatelow-frequency variable sources.

The molecular envelopes of planetary nebulae.
We report the results of a survey of millimeter CO emission in 91planetary nebulae using the IRAM 30 m and SEST 15 m telescopes. Theobservations provide new detections or improved data for 23 nebulae inthe CO(2-1) and/or CO(1-0) line, and sensitive limits for those not seenin CO. Analysis of the results together with previous observationsconfirms the existence of an important class of planetary nebulae withmassive (10^-2^-a few M_sun__) envelopes of molecular gas.These nebulae typically have abundance ratios of N/O>0.3 and bipolarmorphologies indicative of a young disk population. The column densitythrough the envelopes and their mass relative to the mass of ionized gasshow dramatic decreases with increasing nebular size, documenting theexpansion of the envelopes and the growth of the optical nebulae at theexpense of the molecular gas. The molecular envelopes remain a majormass component in these objects until the nebulae reach a radius ofR=~0.1pc. The nebulae not detected in CO have little or no molecular gas(<~10^-2^-10^-3^Msun_), and their envelopes must berapidly photo-dissociated before or during the compact phase. The largedifferences in the molecular gas content of the nebulae highlight thedifferent evolutionary paths for planetary nebula formation which resultfrom the range in mass of the progenitors and the structure of theircircumstellar envelopes.

H2 Emission from Planetary Nebulae: Signpost of Bipolar Structure
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996ApJ...462..777K&db_key=AST

A CS(2-1) survey of IRAS point sources with color characteristics of ultra-compact HII regions.
We have made a complete survey of the CS(2-1) emission toward IRAS pointsources in the galactic plane. The sources observed were selectedaccording to their far infrared (FIR) colors, which are characteristicof UC HII regions. They have 25μm/12μm flux ratios larger than 3.7and 60μm/12μm flux ratios larger than 19.3. The survey covered aregion from b=-2deg to b=2deg from l=300deg to l=0deg and from l=0deg tol=60deg, and from b=-4deg to b=4deg elsewhere. We detected 843 sourcesout of 1427 sources observed. The distributions of detected andundetected sources in a FIR color-color diagram show some differences,suggesting that more than one type of object is present in our observedsample.

IRAS-selected Galactic star-forming regions - II. Water maser detections in the extended sample
The results of the analysis of the occurrence of 22.2-GHz H_2O maseremission in a sample of 1409 IRAS sources north of declination -30 degassociated with star-forming regions are presented. Our sample containsall the IRAS sources that satisfy Emerson criteria for selectingmolecular cores associated with the earliest evolutionary stages of thestar-forming process. In a previous paper, we have reported the resultsof the observations of about one third of the sample. In the presentpaper the observations of the remaining IRAS sources are presented: 18of them are newly detected maser sources. The results show that 20 percent of all IRAS sources that satisfy the Wood & Churchwell criteriahave H_2O water masers. This is in agreement with the assumption thatthese criteria select objects that are connected with the early phasesof the evolution of high-mass star-forming regions. Moreover, about onethird of the whole sample selected according to Emerson criteriacontains IRAS sources that are not associated with massive star-formingprocesses, but probably with molecular cores in low-mass star-formingregions.

A statistical distance scale for Galactic planetary nebulae
A statistical distance scale is proposed. It is based on the correlationbetween the ionized mass and the radius and the correlation between theradio continuum surface brightness temperature and the nebular radius.The proposed statistical distance scale is an average of the twodistances obtained while using the correlation. These correlations,calibrated based on the 1`32 planetary nebulae with well-determinedindividual distances by Zhang, can reproduce not only the averagedistance of a sample of Galactic Bulge planetary nebulae exactly at thedistance to the Galactic center, but also the expected Gaussiandistribution of their distances around the Galactic center. This newdistance scale is applied to 647 Galactic planetary nebulae. It isestimated that this distance scale can be accurate on average to35%-50%. Our statistical distance scale is in good agreement with theone recently proposed by Van de Steene and Zijlstra. The correlationsfound in this study can be attributed to the fact that the core mass ofthe central stars has a very sharp distribution, strongly peaked atapprox. 0.6 solar mass. We stress that the scatter seen in thestatistical distance scale is likely to be real. The scatter is causedby the fact that the core mass distribution, although narrow andstrongly peaked, has a finite width.

On an alternative statistical distance scale for planetary nebulae. Catalog with statistical distances to planetary nebulae.
We have proposed a statistical method to determine distances toplanetary nebulae. The method is based on an empirical correlationbetween the radio-continuum brightness temperature and radius. Here wepresent a catalog of distance determinations calculated using thismethod.

A catalogue HeII 4686 line intensities in Galactic planetary nebulae.
We have compiled the intensities of the HeII 4686 lines measured inGalactic planetary nebulae. We present a few observational diagramsrelated to this parameter, and discuss them with the help of theoreticaldiagrams obtained from simple model planetary nebulae surroundingevolving central stars of various masses. We determine the hydrogen andhelium Zanstra temperature for all the objects with accurate enoughdata. We argue that, for Galactic planetary nebulae as a whole, the maincause for the Zanstra discrepancy is leakage of stellar ionizing photonsfrom the nebulae.

Trace of planetary nebula evolution by distance-independent parameters
Using existing infrared and radio data on a sample of 432 planetarynebulae, we derived a number of distance-independent parameters forcomparison with evolutionary models of planetary nebulae. We find thatmany of the observed properties of planetary nebulae can be explained bycurrent central star evolutionary models, even if the time scales aresubject to significant change by a factor of up to an order ofmagnitude. Specifically, we find that the evolutionary tracks are wellseparated in the radio surface brightness-central star temperatureplane, therefore allowing us to determine the core mass of individualplanetary nebulae. We also obtain the luminosity and gravity of thecentral stars of individual nebulae, from their temperature and coremass, without relying on the distance assumptions. We find that ourresults of the core mass are in good agreement with those of Mendez etal. (1992) and Tylenda et al. (1991). A systematic, large discrepancy isfound between the luminosity found in this work and that found byGathier and Pottasch (1986).

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Observation and Astrometry data

Constellation:Cygnus
Right ascension:21h14m15.22s
Declination:+46°17'17.5"
Apparent magnitude:11

Catalogs and designations:
Proper Names   (Edit)
NGC 2000.0NGC 7048

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