Discovery of Lyman-alpha Pumped Molecular Hydrogen Emission in the Planetary Nebulae NGC 6853 and NGC 3132

Details Discovery of Lyman-alpha Pumped Molecular Hydrogen Emission in the Planetary Nebulae NGC 6853 and NGC 3132 Discovery of Lyman-alpha Pumped Molecular Hydrogen Emission in the Planetary Nebulae NGC 6853 and NGC 3132

2006-02-24

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0602547v1

Astrophys.J. 644 (2006) 981-989

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

emulate ApJ, 9 pages, 8 figures, 9 tables, ApJ accepted

Scientific paper

10.1086/503603

We report the first observation of Ly$\alpha$ pumped molecular hydrogen emission lines in planetary nebulae. The H$_{2}$ emission observed in the ultraviolet spectra of NGC 6853 and NGC 3132 can be explained by excitation of vibrationally hot H$_{2}$ by Ly$\alpha$ photons. Constraints are placed on the nebular Ly$\alpha$ emission profile, as well as the molecular hydrogen temperature, column density and turbulent motion. These parameters are similar for the two nebulae, pointing to similar physical conditions in these objects. The ro-vibrational cascade following Ly$\alpha$ pumping is predicted to have low surface brightness signatures in the visible and near infrared.

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