2009/10/05 by George H. Jacoby, Matthias Kronberger, Dana Patchick +10
Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Educational Leadership and Practices #Emission nebula #Galactic plane #Nebula #Planetary nebula #Population #Sky #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1071/as09025
11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (PASA), full resolution paper available at http://www.wiyn.org/jacoby_pasa.pdf
arxiv created 2009/10/05 · openalex publication_date 2010/01/01 · arxiv updated 2015/05/14 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract Recent Hα surveys such as SHS and IPHAS have improved the completeness of the Galactic planetary nebula (PN) census. We now know of ∼3000 PNe in the Galaxy, but this is far short of most estimates, typically ~25 000 or more for the total population. The size of the Galactic PN population is required to derive an accurate estimate of the chemical enrichment rates of nitrogen, carbon, and helium. In addition, a high PN count (>20 000) is strong evidence that most main-sequence stars of mass 1–8 M ⊙ will go through a PN phase, while a low count (<10 000) argues that special conditions (e.g. close binary interactions) are required to form a PN. We describe a technique for finding hundreds more PNe using the existing data collections of the digital sky surveys, thereby improving the census of Galactic PNe.