Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jun 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002aj....123.3329o&link_type=abstract
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 123, Issue 6, pp. 3329-3347.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
53
Ism: Planetary Nebulae: Individual: Ngc Number: Ngc 2392, Ism: Planetary Nebulae: Individual: Ngc Number: Ngc 6720, Ism: Planetary Nebulae: Individual: Ngc Number: Ngc 6853, Ism: Planetary Nebulae: Individual: Ngc Number: Ngc 7293, Ism: Planetary Nebulae: Individual: Alphanumeric: Ic 4406
Scientific paper
HST emission-line images of five of the arguably closest planetary nebulae have shown that there is a progression of characteristics of their knots. This progression begins with dark tangential structures showing no alignment with the central star and location near the main ionization front. At the end of the progression in the largest nebulae, the knots are located throughout much of the ionized zone, where they are photoionized on the side facing the central star and accompanied by long tails well aligned radially. This modification of characteristics is what would be expected if the knots were formed near or outside the main ionization front, obtaining densities high enough to lead to their being only partially ionized as they are fully illuminated by the Lyman continuum (Lyc) radiation field. Their expansion velocities must be lower than that of the main body of the nebular shell. Their forms are altered by exposure to the radiation field from the star, although it is not clear as to the relative role of radiation pressure acting on the dust component vis-à-vis ionization shadowing. The one object that does not fit into this sequence is NGC 2392, which is the most complex nebula in our sample. In this case the inner part of the nebula is composed of a series of loops of material, some being ionization bounded, which cover only a small fraction of the area illuminated by the star. This complex structure may be what gives rise to the large variations in electron temperature inferred from low spatial resolution observations. Cometary-form knots are seen in the outer part of this object, with these objects closely resembling those found in the largest nebula in our sample, NGC 7293. Based in part on observations 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, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
Balick Bruce
Burkert Andreas
Hajian Arsen R.
Henney William J.
O'Dell Charles Robert
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