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

Autor: S.-G. Luo, X.-W. Liu, M. J. Barlow, Y. Liu
Rok vydání: 2004
Předmět:
Zdroj: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 353:1231-1250
ISSN: 1365-2966
0035-8711
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08155.x
Popis: 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
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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