Virtual Observatory studies of Planetary Nebulae

TL;DR

This paper conducts a comprehensive analysis of approximately 1500 planetary nebulae using online catalogues and public surveys, covering their dynamics, orbits, ISM interactions, and spectral energy distributions.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale, multi-faceted study of the entire planetary nebulae population using publicly available data.

Findings

Analysis of proper motions and galactocentric orbits of PNe

Insights into PNe interactions with the interstellar medium

Spectral energy distribution characterization from UV to IR

Abstract

Starting from the Strasbourg ESO Catalogue (SEC) of Planetary Nebulae (PNe), the largest PNe compilation available with ~ 1500 objects, we undertook a comprehensive study of the whole PN population, never carried out so far, only using on-line catalogues and data from public imaging surveys. The study includes the PN dynamics through their measured proper motions (PMs), the study of their galactocentric orbits, the study of their interactions with the interstellar medium (ISM), and the study of their UV-to-IR spectral energy distribution (SED). As a preliminary step required to perform cross-correlations with on-line catalogues, we first went through a systematic reassessment of the PN coordinates (Kerber et al. 2003a).