Richard A. Shaw

SOFTWARE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF EMISSION LINE NEBULAE

A set of software tools has been developed for the IRAF/STSDAS environment to derive the physical conditions in a low-density (nebular) gas given appropriate diagnostic emission line ratios; and lien emissivities given appropriate emission line fluxes, the electron temperature (Te) and density (Ne). The package is based on the five-level program developed by De Robertis, Dufour and Hunt (1987), but it includes diagnostics from a greater set of ions and emission lines, most particularly those in the satellite ultraviolet that are now observable. Two fo the applications make use of a 3-zone nebular model to derive Te and N3 simultaneously in separate zones of low-, and intermediate-, and high-ionization. These applications are useful for calculating nebular densities and temperatures directly from the traditional diagnostic line ratios, either to provide some reasonable input parameters for a more complicated physical model, or to calculate ionic abundances (or other quantities) within some simplifying assumptions. Examples of the utility of these diagnostics for real nebulae are presented.

Formation of Fullerenes in H-containing Planetary Nebulae

Hydrogen depleted environments are considered an essential requirement for the formation of fullerenes. The recent detection of C60 and C70 fullerenes in what was interpreted as the hydrogen-poor inner region of a post-final helium shell flash planetary nebula (PN) seemed to confirm this picture. Here, we present strong evidence that challenges the current paradigm regarding fullerene formation, showing that it can take place in circumstellar environments containing hydrogen. We report the simultaneous detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and fullerenes toward C-rich and H-containing PNe belonging to environments with very different chemical histories such as our own Galaxy and the Small Magellanic Cloud. We suggest that PAHs and fullerenes may be formed by the photochemical processing of hydrogenated amorphous carbon. These observations suggest that modifications may be needed to our current understanding of the chemistry of large organic molecules as well as the chemical processing in space.

The Formation of Fullerenes: Clues from New C60, C70, and (Possible) Planar C24 Detections in Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae

We present 10 new Spitzer detections of fullerenes in Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae, including the first extragalactic detections of the C70 molecule. These new fullerene detections together with the most recent laboratory data permit us to report an accurate determination of the C60 and C70 abundances in space. Also, we report evidence for the possible detection of planar C24 in some of our fullerene sources, as indicated by the detection of very unusual emission features coincident with the strongest transitions of this molecule at ~6.6, 9.8, and 20 μm. The infrared spectra display a complex mix of aliphatic and aromatic species such as hydrogenated amorphous carbon grains (HACs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon clusters, fullerenes, and small dehydrogenated carbon clusters (possible planar C24). The coexistence of such a variety of molecular species supports the idea that fullerenes are formed from the decomposition of HACs. We propose that fullerenes are formed from the destruction of HACs, possibly as a consequence of shocks driven by the fast stellar winds, which can sometimes be very strong in transition sources and young planetary nebulae (PNe). This is supported by the fact that many of our fullerene-detected PNe show altered [Ne III]/[Ne II] ratios suggestive of shocks as well as P-Cygni profiles in their UV lines indicative of recently enhanced mass loss.

Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph Observations of Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae: The Nature of Dust in Low-Metallicity Circumstellar Ejecta*

We present 5-40 ?m spectroscopy of 41 planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Magellanic Clouds, observed with the Infrared Spectrograph on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectra show the presence of a combination of nebular emission lines and solid state features from dust, superimposed on the thermal IR continuum. By analyzing the 25 LMC and 16 SMC PNe in our sample we found that the IR spectra of 14 LMC and four SMC PNe are dominated by nebular emission lines, while the other spectra show solid state features. We observed that the solid state features are compatible with carbon-rich dust grains (SiC, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs], etc.) in all cases but three PNe, which show oxygen-rich dust features. The frequency of carbonaceous dust features is generally higher in LMC than in SMC PNe. The spectral analysis allowed the correlations of the dust characteristics with the gas composition and morphology, and the properties of the central stars. We found that (1) all PNe with carbonaceous dust features have -->C/O > 1, none of these being bipolar or otherwise highly asymmetric; (2) all PNe with oxygen-rich dust features have -->C/O < 1, with probable high-mass progenitors if derived from single-star evolution (these PNe are either bipolar or highly asymmetric); (3) the dust temperature tracks the nebular and stellar evolution; and (4) the dust production efficiency depends on metallicity, with low-metallicity environments not favoring dust production.

Apparent magnitudes of luminous planetary nebula nuclei. II: A survey of southern hemisphere planetary nebulae

Narrow-band continuum and emission-line photometry of 145 southern hemisphere PN are presented. Total fluxes in the important nebular lines He II 4686 A, H-beta, forbidden O III 4959, H-alpha, and forbidden N II 6583 A are measured and used to determine the nebular distances and ionizations, interstellar reddenings, and He(2+) abundances and to derive the luminosities and temperatures of the central stars. The line filter data and the stellar continuum magnitudes are compared in detail with those from other authors and with magnitudes derived from narrow-band imaging. The luminosities and effective temperatures of those PN nuclei for which sufficient and reliable data exist are calculated. 90 references.

PyNeb: a new tool for analyzing emission lines - I. Code description and validation of results

Analysis of emission lines in gaseous nebulae yields direct measures of physical conditions and chemical abundances and is the cornerstone of nebular astrophysics. Although the physical problem is conceptually simple, its practical complexity can be overwhelming since the amount of data to be analyzed steadily increases; furthermore, results depend crucially on the input atomic data, whose determination also improves each year. To address these challenges we created PyNeb, an innovative code for analyzing emission lines. PyNeb computes physical conditions and ionic and elemental abundances, and produces both theoretical and observational diagnostic plots. It is designed to be portable, modular, and largely customizable in aspects such as the atomic data used, the format of the observational data to be analyzed, and the graphical output. It gives full access to the intermediate quantities of the calculation, making it possible to write scripts tailored to the specific type of analysis one wants to carry out. In the case of collisionally excited lines, PyNeb works by solving the equilibrium equations for an n-level atom; in the case of recombination lines, it works by interpolation in emissivity tables. The code offers a choice of extinction laws and ionization correction factors, which can be complemented by user-provided recipes. It is entirely written in the python programming language and uses standard python libraries. It is fully vectorized, making it apt for analyzing huge amounts of data. The code is stable and has been benchmarked against IRAF/NEBULAR. It is public, fully documented, and has already been satisfactorily used in a number of published papers.

Large planetary nebulae and their significance to the late stages of stellar evolution

Spectrophotometry of 75 large PNe with Shklovsky radii greater than 0.15 pc is presented and used to calculate nebular parameters and compositions, stellar Zanstra temperatures and luminosities, and core masses. Nine new Peimbert type I nebulae are identified. About 40 percent of the stars that are on cooling tracks are above 0.7 solar mass, and over 15 percent are above 0.8 solar mass. The large planetaries demonstrate a clear positive correlation between nitrogen enrichment and core mass. N/O is anticorrelated with O/H. The radii of the nebulae whose stars lie along specific cooling tracks increase monotonically with decreasing central star temperature. For a given central temperature, the nebular radii also increase with increasing core mass, showing that in this part of the log L-log T plane the higher mass cores evolve more slowly in agreement with theoretical prediction. However, theoretical evolutionary rates for the large nebulae stars appear to be much too slow. 103 refs.

Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Slitless Observations of Small Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae: A Study on Morphology, Emission-Line Intensity, and Evolution*

A sample of 27 planetary nebulae (PNs) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) have been observed with the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS) to determine their morphology, size, and the spatial variation of the ratios of bright emission lines. The morphologies of SMC PNs are similar to those of LMC and Galactic PNs. However, only a third of the resolved SMC PNs are asymmetric, compared to half of those in the LMC. The low-metallicity environment of the SMC seems to discourage the onset of bipolarity in PNs. We measured the line intensity, average surface brightness, and photometric radius of each nebula in Hα, Hβ, [O III] λλ4959 and 5007, [N II] λλ6548 and 6584, [S II] λλ6716 and 6731, He I λ6678, and [O I] λλ6300 and 6363. We show that the surface brightness-to-radius relationship is the same as in LMC PNs, indicating its possible use as a distance scale indicator for Galactic PNs. We determine the electron densities and the ionized masses of the nebulae where the [S II] lines were measured accurately, and we find that the SMC PNs are denser than the LMC PNs by a factor of 1.5. The average ionized mass of the SMC PNs is 0.3 M☉. We also found that the median [O III]/Hβ intensity ratio in the SMC is about half that of the corresponding LMC median. We use CLOUDY to model the dependence of the [O III]/Hβ ratio on the oxygen abundance. Our models encompass very well the average observed physical quantities. We suggest that the SMC PNs are principally cooled by the carbon lines, making it hard to study their excitation based on the optical lines at our disposal.

Hubble Space Telescope Images of Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae

We present images and slitless spectra that were obtained in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) surveys of planetary nebulae (PNe) in both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. These new data on 59 PNe (54 in the LMC and 5 in the SMC) permit us to determine the nebular dimensions and morphology in the monochromatic light of several emission lines: H?, [N II] ?6583, and [O III] ?5007, plus others of varying ionization, including [O I], He I, and [S II]. We describe the nebular morphology and related features in detail. This survey, when combined with similar data from our prior HST programs and other archived PN images, brings the total of nebulae imaged with HST to 114 in the LMC and 35 in the SMC. We describe various basic properties for the sample, including sizes, morphologies, densities, and completeness. Trends in [O III] ?5007 flux, surface brightness, and electron density with physical radius suggest that many nebulae, particularly those with bipolar morphology, may be optically thick even at large size. Bipolars also show the most extreme values of [N II]/H? flux ratios, which is a rough indicator of N enrichment.

Morphology and Evolution of the Large Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae

The LMC is ideal for studying the coevolution of planetary nebulae (PNs) and their central stars in that the debilitating uncertainties of the Galactic PN distance scale and selection biases from attenuation by interstellar dust do not apply. We present images and analyze slitless spectra that were obtained in a survey of Large Magellanic Cloud PNs. These data on 29 targets were obtained with the Hubble Space T elescope (HST ) using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The data permit us to determine the nebular dimensions and morphology in the monochromatic light of several emission lines, including those that have traditionally been used for morphological studies in the Galaxy : Ha ,[ NII] j6583, and [O III] j5007, plus others of varying ionization including [O I], He I, and [S II]. Together with the 31 resolved LMC PNs for which monochromatic images exist in the HST archive, these data show that the incidence of nonsymmetric nebulae, including bipolar nebulae (which is an indicator of Population I ancestry in the Galaxy), is signiÐcantly higher than that reported for the Galaxy. The onset of asymmetric features appears even in very young nebulae (with dynamical ages of D1400 yr), suggesting that at least the gross features of the nebular morphology may be more closely tied to PN formation and that subsequent shaping of the expanding envelope by the radiation Ðeld and wind from the central star may play the lesser role of amplifying these gross features. There is some evidence of evolution between two morphological types in the sense that bipolar core nebulae may evolve to pure bipolars late in the PN lifetime. Subject headings : Magellanic Clouds E planetary nebulae : general E stars : evolution