Physics of Ionized Nebulae

    General
    Description

    The research that is being carried out by the group can be condensed into two main lines:

    1) Study of the structure, dynamics, physical conditions and chemical evolution of Galactic and extragalactic ionized nebulae through detailed analysis and modelization of their spectra. Investigation of chemical composition gradients along the disk of our Galaxy and in nearby galaxies.

    2) Determine the physical-chemical conditions of galactic planetary nebulae with bipolar geometry and nebulae around symbiotic stars. The aim is to understand the origin of bipolarity and to test theoretical models that attempt to explain nebular morphology and kinematics, with special emphasis on models with central binary stars. We will also study the implications of the evolution of binary systems in other astrophysical scenarios, such as the formation of jets, cataclysmic variables, and nova and supernova-type explosions.

    Principal investigator
    Project manager
    Collaborators
    Dr.
    A.R. López Sánchez
    Dr.
    N.C. Sterling
    Dra.
    Karla Z. Arellano Córdoba
    Dr.
    T. Hillwig
    Dr.
    M. Santander García
    Prof.
    B. Balick
    Dr.
    D. R. Gonçalves
    Dra.
    K. Kwitter
    Dr.
    A. Prsa
    1. Using EMIR/GTC spectra in the near infrared range, tellurium and bromine emission lines have been detected for the first time in two planetary nebulae. These heavy element detections in one of their places where they are formed, give us information about the abundance patterns of heavy elements owing to the r-process and the s-process.

    Related publications

    • The ionised and molecular mass of post-common-envelope planetary nebulae. The missing mass problem

      Context. Most planetary nebulae (PNe) show beautiful, axisymmetric morphologies despite their progenitor stars being essentially spherical. Close binarity is widely invoked to help eject an axisymmetric nebula, after a brief phase of engulfment of the secondary within the envelope of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star, known as the common

      Santander-García, M. et al.

      Advertised on:

      2
      2022
      Citations
      8
    • MUSE spectroscopy of planetary nebulae with high abundance discrepancies

      We present MUSE deep integral-field unit spectroscopy of three planetary nebulae (PNe) with high-abundance discrepancy factors (ADF > 20): NGC 6778, M 1-42, and Hf 2-2. We have constructed flux maps for more than 40 emission lines, and use them to build extinction, electron temperature (Te), electron density (ne), and ionic abundances maps of a

      García-Rojas, J. et al.

      Advertised on:

      3
      2022
      Citations
      23
    • Gradients of chemical abundances in the Milky Way from H II regions: distances derived from Gaia EDR3 parallaxes and temperature inhomogeneities

      We present a reassessment of the radial abundance gradients of He, C, N, O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar in the Milky Way using the deep optical spectra of 42 H II regions presented in Arellano-Córdova et al. (2020, 2021) and Méndez-Delgado et al. (2020) exploring the impact of: (1) new distance determinations based on Gaia EDR3 parallaxes and (2) the use of

      Méndez-Delgado, J. E. et al.

      Advertised on:

      3
      2022
      Citations
      19
    • TESS Eclipsing Binary Stars. I. Short-cadence Observations of 4584 Eclipsing Binaries in Sectors 1-26

      In this paper we present a catalog of 4584 eclipsing binaries observed during the first two years (26 sectors) of the TESS survey. We discuss selection criteria for eclipsing binary candidates, detection of hitherto unknown eclipsing systems, determination of the ephemerides, the validation and triage process, and the derivation of heuristic

      Prša, Andrej et al.

      Advertised on:

      1
      2022
      Citations
      57
    • On the most luminous planetary nebulae of M 31

      Context. The planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF) is a standard candle that comprises a key rung on the extragalactic distance ladder. The method is based on the empirical evidence that the luminosity function of planetary nebulae (PNe) in the [O III] λ5007 nebular emission line reaches a maximum value that is approximately invariant with

      Galera-Rosillo, Rebeca et al.

      Advertised on:

      1
      2022
      Citations
      7
    • The post-common-envelope binary central star of the planetary nebula Ou 5: a doubly eclipsing post-red-giant-branch system

      We present a detailed study of the stellar and orbital parameters of the post-common envelope binary central star of the planetary nebula Ou 5. Low-resolution spectra obtained during the primary eclipse - to our knowledge the first isolated spectra of the companion to a post-common-envelope planetary nebula central star - were compared to catalogue

      Jones, David et al.

      Advertised on:

      2
      2022
      Citations
      9
    • High-resolution Hα imaging of the northern Galactic plane and the IGAPS image database

      The INT Galactic Plane Survey (IGAPS) is the merger of the optical photometric surveys IPHAS and UVEX based on data from the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) obtained between 2003 and 2018. It captures the entire northern Galactic plane within the Galactic coordinate range |b|< 5° and 30° < ℓ < 215°. From the beginning, the incorporation of narrow-band

      Greimel, R. et al.

      Advertised on:

      11
      2021
      Citations
      8
    • Resolving the Circumstellar Environment of the Galactic B[e] Supergiant Star MWC 137.II. Nebular Kinematics and Stellar Variability

      The Galactic B[e] supergiant MWC 137 is surrounded by a large-scale optical nebula. To shed light on the physical conditions and kinematics of the nebula, we analyze the optical forbidden emission lines [N II] λλ 6548,6583 and [S II] λλ 6716,6731 in long-slit spectra taken with ALFOSC at the Nordic Optical Telescope. The radial velocities display a

      Kraus, Michaela et al.

      Advertised on:

      10
      2021
      Citations
      9
    • The Missing Link? Discovery of Pulsations in the Nitrogen-rich PG 1159 Star PG 1144+005

      Up to 98% of all single stars will eventually become white dwarfs-stars that link the history and future evolution of the Galaxy, and whose previous evolution is engraved in their interiors. Those interiors can be studied using asteroseismology, utilizing stellar pulsations as seismic waves. The pulsational instability strips of DA and DB white

      Sowicka, Paulina et al.

      Advertised on:

      9
      2021
      Citations
      6
    • Photoionized Herbig-Haro Objects in the Orion Nebula through Deep High Spectral Resolution Spectroscopy. II. HH 204

      We analyze the physical conditions, chemical composition, and other properties of the photoionized Herbig-Haro (HH) object HH 204 through Very Large Telescope echelle spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope imaging. We kinematically isolate the high-velocity emission of HH 204 from the emission of the background nebula and study the subarcsecond

      Méndez-Delgado, J. E. et al.

      Advertised on:

      9
      2021
      Citations
      7
    • Binary central stars of planetary nebulae identified with Kepler/K2

      We present the identification of 34 likely binary central stars (CSs) of planetary nebulae (PNe) from Kepler/K2 data, seven of which show eclipses. Of these, 29 are new discoveries. Two additional CSs with more complicated variability are also presented. We examined the light curves of all 'possible', 'likely', and 'true' PNe in every Kepler/K2

      Jacoby, George H. et al.

      Advertised on:

      10
      2021
      Citations
      19
    • HiPERCAM: a quintuple-beam, high-speed optical imager on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias

      HiPERCAM is a portable, quintuple-beam optical imager that saw first light on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) in 2018. The instrument uses re-imaging optics and four dichroic beamsplitters to record $u_{\rm s}\, g_{\rm s}\, r_{\rm s}\, i_{\rm s}\, z_{\rm s}$ (320-1060 nm) images simultaneously on its five CCD cameras, each of 3.1-arcmin

      Dhillon, V. S. et al.

      Advertised on:

      10
      2021
      Citations
      26
    • Electron temperature fluctuations in Seyfert galaxies

      We use Gemini GMOS-IFU observations of three luminous nearby Seyfert galaxies (Mrk 79, Mrk 348, and Mrk 607) to estimate the electron temperature (Te) fluctuations in the inner 0.4-1.1 kpc region of these galaxies. Based on Te determinations through the [O III]λ5007/λ4363 emission line ratio of each spaxel, temperature variations are quantified by

      Riffel, Rogemar A. et al.

      Advertised on:

      9
      2021
      Citations
      7
    • Towards a more complete sample of binary central stars of planetary nebulae with Gaia

      Context. Many if not most planetary nebulae (PNe) are now thought to be the outcome of binary evolutionary scenarios. However, only a few percent of the PNe in the Milky Way are known to host binary systems. The high-precision repeated observing and long time baseline of Gaia make it well suited for detecting new close binaries through photometric

      Chornay, N. et al.

      Advertised on:

      4
      2021
      Citations
      15
    • Forbidden hugs in pandemic times. II. The luminous red nova variety: AT 2020hat and AT 2020kog

      We present the results of our monitoring campaigns of the luminous red novae (LRNe) AT 2020hat in NGC 5068 and AT 2020kog in NGC 6106. The two objects were imaged (and detected) before their discovery by routine survey operations. They show a general trend of slow luminosity rise, lasting at least a few months. The subsequent major LRN outbursts

      Pastorello, A. et al.

      Advertised on:

      3
      2021
      Citations
      18
    • A tidally tilted sectoral dipole pulsation mode in the eclipsing binary TIC 63328020

      We report the discovery of the third tidally tilted pulsator, TIC 63328020. Observations with the TESS satellite reveal binary eclipses with an orbital period of 1.1057 d, and δ Scuti-type pulsations with a mode frequency of 21.09533 d-1. This pulsation exhibits a septuplet of orbital sidelobes as well as a harmonic quintuplet. Using the oblique

      Rappaport, S. A. et al.

      Advertised on:

      5
      2021
      Citations
      22
    • Forbidden hugs in pandemic times. I. Luminous red nova AT 2019zhd, a new merger in M 31

      We present the follow-up campaign of the luminous red nova (LRN) AT 2019zhd, the third event of this class observed in M 31. The object was followed by several sky surveys for about five months before the outburst, during which it showed a slow luminosity rise. In this phase, the absolute magnitude ranged from Mr = -2.8 ± 0.2 mag to Mr = -5.6 ± 0.1

      Pastorello, A. et al.

      Advertised on:

      2
      2021
      Citations
      19
    • Photoionized Herbig-Haro objects in the Orion Nebula through deep high-spectral resolution spectroscopy - I. HH 529 II and III

      We present the analysis of physical conditions, chemical composition, and kinematic properties of two bow shocks - HH 529 II and HH 529 III - of the fully photoionized Herbig-Haro object HH 529 in the Orion Nebula. The data were obtained with the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph at the 8.2m Very Large Telescope and 20 yr of Hubble Space

      Méndez-Delgado, J. E. et al.

      Advertised on:

      4
      2021
      Citations
      13
    • H α fluxes and extinction distances for planetary nebulae in the IPHAS survey of the northern galactic plane

      We report H α filter photometry for 197 Northern hemisphere planetary nebulae (PNe) obtained using imaging data from the IPHAS survey. H α+[N II] fluxes were measured for 46 confirmed or possible PNe discovered by the IPHAS survey and for 151 previously catalogued PNe that fell within the area of the northern Galactic Plane surveyed by IPHAS. After

      Dharmawardena, Thavisha E. et al.

      Advertised on:

      3
      2021
      Citations
      4
    • On the radial abundance gradients of nitrogen and oxygen in the inner Galactic disc

      We present optical spectra of nine Galactic H II regions observed with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias telescope and located at Galactocentric distances (RG) from 4 to 8 kpc. The distances of the objects have been revised using Gaia DR2 parallaxes. We determine the electron temperature for all the nebulae, which allows a precise computation of

      Arellano-Córdova, K. Z. et al.

      Advertised on:

      3
      2021
      Citations
      23

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