Planetary Nebula Surveys: Past, Present and Future

TL;DR

This review discusses the history, recent advancements, and future prospects of planetary nebula surveys, emphasizing new catalogues, multi-wavelength detection methods, and their significance in galactic and extragalactic studies.

Contribution

It highlights the impact of recent large-scale surveys like MASH and IPHAS in increasing planetary nebulae catalogues and discusses the evolving role of multi-wavelength data in detection and analysis.

Findings

Major catalogues like MASH and IPHAS doubled known Galactic PN numbers.

Multi-wavelength data improves detection accuracy and reduces false positives.

Future surveys will enhance understanding of PNe in external galaxies.

Abstract

In this review we cover the detection, identification and astrophysical importance of planetary nebulae (PN). The legacy of the historic Perek & Kohoutek and Acker et al. catalogues is briefly covered before highlighting the more recent but significant progress in PN discoveries in our Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. We place particular emphasis on the major MASH and the IPHAS catalogues, which, over the last decade alone, have essentially doubled Galactic and LMC PN numbers. We then discuss the increasing role and importance that multi-wavelength data is playing in both the detection of candidate PN and the elimination of PN mimics that have seriously biased previous PN compilations. The prospects for future surveys and current efforts and prospects for PN detections in external galaxies are briefly discussed due to their value both as cosmic distance indicators and as kinematical probes of galaxies and dark matter properties.