Searching for the Missing Galactic Planetary Nebulae: A Pilot [S III] Imaging Survey

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

Current estimates of the total number of Galactic planetary nebulae (GPNe) are highly uncertain; the most inclusive current catalog contains only 1,500 PNe. A complete and minimally contaminated catalog of GPNe is necessary for a variety of ongoing studies, including investigation of the possibility that most or all PNe originate from binary systems. In order to complete current catalogs, a reliable long-wavelength PNe detection method is needed to find those GPNe obscured by dust and so missed by previous surveys using standard PNe signposts--[O III] at 5007Å or Hα at 6563Å. We have employed the method used by Jacoby & Van de Steene, who surveyed the Galactic bulge for [S III] λ9532 emission. They show that the [S III] λ9532 emission line dominates the visible spectrum of most PNe when the visual extinction is between 4 and 12 magnitudes. Thus, narrowband imaging surveys of [S III] emission are a potentially efficient and effective method for finding distant, highly-extincted PNe like those within the Galactic plane. Use of this line should also exclude many of the most troublesome PNe catalog contaminants--ultracompact HII regions. We have used the PRISM wide-field imager and two 20Å bandpass interference filters on the 1.8-m Perkins Telescope at Lowell Observatory to conduct a pilot survey of 1 square degree of the Northern Galactic plane for |b| ≤ 1°. The survey observations and results from subsequent data analysis will be presented.
This research is supported by the NSF PREST Grant AST-0440936 and NSF REU Grant AST-0440936-1.

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