Bibcode
DOI
Stanghellini, Letizia; García-Lario, Pedro; García-Hernández, D. Anibal; Perea-Calderón, Jose V.; Davies, James E.; Manchado, A.; Villaver, Eva; Shaw, Richard A.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 671, Issue 2, pp. 1669-1684.
Advertised on:
12
2007
Journal
Citations
81
Refereed citations
65
Description
We present 5-40 μm spectroscopy of 41 planetary nebulae (PNe) in the
Magellanic Clouds, observed with the Infrared Spectrograph on board the
Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectra show the presence of a combination
of nebular emission lines and solid state features from dust,
superimposed on the thermal IR continuum. By analyzing the 25 LMC and 16
SMC PNe in our sample we found that the IR spectra of 14 LMC and four
SMC PNe are dominated by nebular emission lines, while the other spectra
show solid state features. We observed that the solid state features are
compatible with carbon-rich dust grains (SiC, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons [PAHs], etc.) in all cases but three PNe, which show
oxygen-rich dust features. The frequency of carbonaceous dust features
is generally higher in LMC than in SMC PNe. The spectral analysis
allowed the correlations of the dust characteristics with the gas
composition and morphology, and the properties of the central stars. We
found that (1) all PNe with carbonaceous dust features have C/O>1,
none of these being bipolar or otherwise highly asymmetric; (2) all PNe
with oxygen-rich dust features have C/O<1, with probable high-mass
progenitors if derived from single-star evolution (these PNe are either
bipolar or highly asymmetric); (3) the dust temperature tracks the
nebular and stellar evolution; and (4) the dust production efficiency
depends on metallicity, with low-metallicity environments not favoring
dust production.
Based on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is
operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of
Technology, under a contract with NASA.