Planetary Nebulae Detected in the Spitzer Space Telescope GLIMPSE 3D Legacy Survey

TL;DR

This study utilizes the GLIMPSE 3D survey data to identify and analyze the mid-infrared properties of planetary nebulae, revealing their structures and constructing spectral energy distributions to enhance understanding of these objects.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive MIR analysis of PNs in the GLIMPSE 3D survey, expanding the catalog of PNs with MIR counterparts and detailed photometry.

Findings

Identified 191 PNs with MIR counterparts in the GLIMPSE 3D survey.

Constructed spectral energy distributions for these PNs.

Revealed large bipolar structures in some PNs, such as M1-41.

Abstract

We used the data from the Spitzer Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE) to investigate the mid-infrared (MIR) properties of planetary nebulae (PNs) and PN candidates. In previous studies of GLIMPSE I& II data, we have shown that these MIR data are very useful in distinguishing PNs from other emission-line objects. In the present paper, we focus on the PNs in the field of the GLIMPSE 3D survey, which has a more extensive latitude coverage. We found a total of 90 Macquarie-AAO-Strasbourg (MASH) and MASH II PNs and 101 known PNs to have visible MIR counterparts in the GLIMPSE 3D survey area. The images and photometry of these PNs are presented. Combining the derived IRAC photometry at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8.0 um with the existing photometric measurements from other infrared catalogs, we are able to construct spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these PNs. Among the most notable objects in this survey is the PN M1-41, whose GLIMPSE 3D image reveals a large bipolar structure of more than 3 arcmin in extent.