Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T08:40:10.620Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function: Pieces of the Puzzle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2013

R. Ciardullo
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Extragalactic surveys in the emission line of [O iii] λ5007 have provided us with the absolute line strengths of large, homogeneous sets of planetary nebulae. These data have been used to address a host of problems, from the measurement of the extragalactic distance scale, to the study of stellar populations. I review our current understanding of the [O iii] planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), and discuss some of the physical processes that effect its structure. I also describe the features of the Hα PNLF, a function that, upon first glance, looks similar to the [O iii] PNLF, but which includes a very different set of objects. Finally, I discuss recent measurements of α, the number of PNe found in a stellar population, normalized to that population's bolometric luminosity. I show that, contrary to expectations, the values of α found in actively star-forming spirals are essentially the same as those measured in late-type elliptical and lenticular systems. I discuss how this result sheds light on the physics of the planetary nebula phenomenon.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2010

References

Balick, B. & Frank, A., 2002, ARA&A, 40, 439Google Scholar
Bruzual, G. & Charlot, S., 2003, MNRAS, 344, 1000CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buzzoni, A., Arnaboldi, M. & Corradi, R. L. M., 2006, MNRAS, 368, 877CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciardullo, R., 2003, in Lecture Notes in Physics: Stellar Candles for the Extragalactic Distance Scale, Eds. Gieren, W. & Alloin, D. (Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag), 243CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciardullo, R., Durrell, P. R., Laychak, M. B., Herrmann, K. A., Moody, K., Jacoby, G. H. & Feldmeier, J. J., 2004, ApJ, 614, 167CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciardullo, R., Feldmeier, J. J., Jacoby, G. H., de Naray, R. K., Laychak, M. B. & Durrell, P. R., 2002, ApJ, 577, 31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciardullo, R. & Jacoby, G. H., 1992, ApJ, 388, 268CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciardullo, R., Jacoby, G. H. & Ford, H. C., 1989, ApJ, 344, 715CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciardullo, R., Jacoby, G. H., Ford, H. C. & Neill, J. D., 1989, ApJ, 339, 53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciardullo, R., Jacoby, G. H. & Harris, W. E., 1991, ApJ, 383, 487CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciardullo, R., Sigurdsson, S., Feldmeier, J. J. & Jacoby, G. H., 2005, ApJ, 629, 499CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dopita, M. A., Jacoby, G. H. & Vassiliadis, E., 1992, ApJ, 389, 27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrarese, L. et al. , 2000, ApJS, 128, 431CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henize, K. G. & Westerlund, B. E., 1963, ApJ, 137, 747CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrmann, K. A. & Ciardullo, R., 2009, ApJ, 703, 894CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrmann, K. A., Ciardullo, R., Feldmeier, J. J. & Vinciguerra, M., 2008, ApJ, 683, 630CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hui, X., Ford, H. C., Ciardullo, R. & Jacoby, G. H., 1993, ApJ, 414, 463CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iben, I. Jr., & Livio, M., 1993, PASP, 105, 1373CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, G. H., 1980, ApJS, 42, 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, G. H., 1989, ApJ, 339, 39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, G. H. & Ciardullo, R., 1999, ApJ, 515, 169CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, G. H., Ciardullo, R. & Ford, H. C., 1990, ApJ, 356, 332CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, G. H. & De Marco, O., 2002, AJ, 123, 269CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalirai, J. S., Hansen, B. M. S., Kelson, D. D., Reitzel, D. B., Rich, R. M. & Richer, H. B., 2008, ApJ, 676, 594CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kozai, Y., 1962, AJ, 67, 591CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwok, S., 1982, ApJ, 258, 280CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marigo, P., Girardi, L., Weiss, A., Groenewegen, M. A. T. & Chiosi, C., 2004, A&A, 423, 995Google Scholar
Méndez, R. H., Teodorescu, A. M., Schönberner, D., Jacob, R. & Steffen, M., 2008, ApJ, 681, 325CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miszalski, R., Parker, Q. A., Acker, A., Birkby, J. L., Frew, D. J. & Kovacevic, A., 2008, MNRAS, 384, 525CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCrea, W. H., 1964, MNRAS, 128, 147CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meatheringham, S. J. & Dopita, M. A., 1991, ApJS, 75, 407CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meatheringham, S. J. & Dopita, M. A., 1991, ApJS, 76, 1085CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, Q. A. et al. , 2006, MNRAS, 373, 79CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perets, H. B. & Fabrycky, D. C., 2009, ApJ, 697, 1048CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pottasch, S. R., 1984, in Planetary Nebulae – A Study of Late Stages of Stellar Evolution (Dordrecht: Reidel), 215Google Scholar
Rejkuba, M., Greggio, L. & Zoccali, M., 2004, A&A, 415, 915Google Scholar
Renzini, A. & Buzzoni, A., 1986, in Spectral Evolution of Galaxies, Eds. Chiosi, C. & Renzini, A. (Dordrecht: Reidel), 195CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richer, M. G., Stasínska, G. & McCall, M. L., 1999, A&AS, 135, 203Google Scholar
Schönberner, D., Jacob, R., Steffen, M. & Sandin, C., 2007, A&A, 473, 467Google Scholar
Soker, N., 2006, ApJ, 640, 966CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trager, S. C., Faber, S. M., Worthey, G. & González, J. J., 2000, AJ, 119, 1645CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vassiliadis, E. & Wood, P. R., 1994, ApJS, 92, 125CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viironen, K. et al. , 2009, A&A, 504, 291Google Scholar