Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000stin...0027673c&link_type=abstract
Technical Report, Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA United States Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Research, Planetary Nebulae, Luminosity, H Ii Regions, Brightness, Spiral Galaxies, Identifying, Galactic Clusters, Extinction, Distance, Cepheid Variables
Scientific paper
The program's goal was to understand the physics underlying the [O III] (lambda)5007 planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF) and evaluate its accuracy as an extragalactic distance indicator. Work under the grant concentrated in two areas. The first major goal was to extensively test the PNLF method to find its limits. We did this performing yet another internal test of the method in the core galaxies of the Fornax Cluster, performing external comparisons of PNLF distances with distances derived from Cepheids and the Surface Brightness Fluctuation method (SBF), and, in general, examining the PNLF in as many different galactic environments as possible, including the disks of late-type spirals. Because of the difficulty distinguishing planetary nebulae (PNe) from H II regions, and because spiral galaxies have uneven internal extinction, the process of identifying "statistical" samples of PNe in these objects is extremely complicated. Nevertheless, by using the ratio of [O III] (lambda)5007 to H(alpha) as a diagnostic, we were able to effectively discriminate PNe from most H II regions, and apply the method to systems such as NGC 300, M101, M51, and M96. The second goal of this research was to determine theoretically, why the PNLF is such an excellent standard candle.
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