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Title:
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Slitless Observations of Small Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae: A Study on Morphology, Emission-Line Intensity, and Evolution
Authors:
Stanghellini, Letizia; Shaw, Richard A.; Balick, Bruce; Mutchler, Max; Blades, J. Chris; Villaver, Eva
Affiliation:
AA(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218; ), AB(National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719; ), AC(Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195; ), AD(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218; , , ), AE(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218; , , ), AF(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218; , , )
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 596, Issue 2, pp. 997-1014. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
10/2003
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Galaxies: Magellanic Clouds, ISM: Planetary Nebulae: General, Stars: AGB and Post-AGB, Stars: Evolution
DOI:
10.1086/378042
Bibliographic Code:
2003ApJ...596..997S

Abstract

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 Msolar. 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.

Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

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