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Precision spectrophotometry for PNLF distances: the case of NGC 300

2023/11/25 by Azlizan A. Soemitro, Martin M. Roth, Soemitro, Azlizan A. +13
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate #FOS: Physical sciences #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2311.14963

openalex publication_date 2023/11/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

The Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) has enabled a renaissance of the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF) as a standard candle. In the case of NGC 300, we learned that the precise spectrophotometry of MUSE was crucial to obtain an accurate PNLF distance. We present the advantage of the integral field spectrograph compared to the slit spectrograph in delivering precise spectrophotometry by simulating a slit observation on integral field spectroscopy data. We also discuss the possible systematic shift in measuring the PNLF distance using the least-square method, especially when the PNLF cutoff is affected by small number statistics.

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