2010/10/24 by David J. Frew, Quentin A. Parker, Frew, David J. +1
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1010.5003
6 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of the Asymmetric Planetary Nebula V Conference (Lake District, England, June 2010)
arxiv created 2010/10/24 · arxiv updated 2010/10/26
We have, for the first time, compiled a nearly complete census of planetary nebulae (PNe) centred on the Sun. Our goal is the generation of an unbiased volume-limited sample, in order to answer some long-standing statistical questions regarding the overall population of Galactic disk PNe and their central stars. Much improved discrimination of classical PNe from their mimics is now possible based on the wide variety of high-quality multiwavelength data sets that are now available. However, we note that evidence is increasing that PNe are heterogeneous, and probably derived from multiple evolutionary scenarios. We give some preliminary data on the relative frequencies of different types of PNe in the local Galactic disk.