Pinning down the composition of the extraordinary planetary nebula PNG 135.9+55.9

Computer Science

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PN G 135.9+55.9 is an extraodinary planetary nebula discovered recently in the Galactic halo . Its oxygen abundance lies between 1/125 and 1/25 of the solar value (i.e. it is by far the most oxygen-poor planetary nebula known). Its nucleus is a spectroscopic binary, with a period of a few hours at most (the only such case known among planetaruies). Our analysis of the binary orbit indicates that the companion is a massive compact object, most likely a white dwarf, making the central star a double degenerate. Since the minimum combined mass is close to the Chandrasekhar limit, it is a very good candidate SN Ia progenitor. Determining accurately the chemical composition of PN G 135.9+55.9 is paramount not only to test models of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis at very low metallicity but also to constrain the poorly understood common envelope phase preceeding the formation of the double degenerate. We propose to use the SST to obtain accurate values of the O/H and Ne/O ratio, (which in turn will constrain the N/O and C/O ratios that can be derived from available STIS HST observations) and to obtain an estimate of the S/H and, possibly, Ar/H ratios.

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