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Planetary nebulae as tracers of stellar population properties: unlocking their potential with integral-field spectroscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2025

Ana Inés Ennis Open the ORCID record for Ana Inés Ennis [Opens in a new window] ,
Johanna Hartke Open the ORCID record for Johanna Hartke [Opens in a new window] ,
Magda Arnaboldi Open the ORCID record for Magda Arnaboldi [Opens in a new window] ,
Claudia Pulsoni ,
Fuyan Bian  and
Chiara Spiniello
Ana Inés Ennis*
Affiliation:
Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, University of Waterloo, Canada Perimeter Institute, Canada
Johanna Hartke
Affiliation:
Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA), FI-20014 University of Turku, Finland Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, FI-20014 University of Turku, Finland
Magda Arnaboldi
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany
Claudia Pulsoni
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Garching, Germany
Fuyan Bian
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile
Chiara Spiniello
Affiliation:
INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Salita Moiariello 16, 80131 - Napoli, Italy Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
*
email: ennis.ana@gmail.com
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Abstract

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Planetary nebulae (PNe) are essential tracers of the kinematics of the diffuse halo and intracluster light where stellar spectroscopy is unfeasible, due to their strong emission lines. However, that is not all they can reveal about the underlying stellar population. In recent years, it has also been found that PNe in the metal-poor halos of galaxies have different properties (specific frequency, luminosity function), than PNe in the more metal-rich galaxy centers. A more quantitative understanding of the role of age and metallicity in these relations would turn PNe into valuable stellar-population tracers. In order to do that, a full characterization of PNe in regions where the stellar light can also be analysed in detail is necessary. In this work, we make use of integral-field spectroscopic data covering the central regions of galaxies, which allow us to measure both stellar ages and metallicities as well as to detect PNe. This analysis is fundamental to calibrate PNe as stellar population tracers and to push our understanding of galaxy properties at unprecedented galactocentric distances.

Keywords

catalogssurveysgalaxies: elliptical and lenticularcDplanetary nebulae

Information

Type
Contributed Paper
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 19 , Symposium S384: Planetary Nebulae: A Universal Toolbox in the Era of Precision Astrophysics , December 2023 , pp. 14 - 20
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Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union

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