Radio Planetary Nebulae in the Small Magellanic Cloud

TL;DR

This study reports ten new radio detections of planetary nebulae in the Small Magellanic Cloud, analyzes their properties, and compares the surface brightness-radius relation with previous measurements, expanding understanding of PNe in this galaxy.

Contribution

The paper provides the first extensive radio detection and analysis of SMC planetary nebulae, including identification of potential PN mimics and comparison of the surface brightness-radius relation.

Findings

16 radio PNe detected, representing ~15% of the SMC catalogued PNe.

Six objects identified as potential PN mimics.

Surface brightness-radius relation consistent with previous measurements.

Abstract

We present ten new radio continuum (RC) detections at catalogued planetary nebula (PN) positions in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC): SMPS6, LIN 41, LIN 142, SMP S13, SMP S14, SMP S16, J18, SMP S18, SMP S19 and SMP S22. Additionally, six SMC radio PNe previously detected, LIN 45, SMP S11, SMPS17, LIN321, LIN339 and SMPS24 are also investigated (re-observed) here making up a population of 16 radio detections of catalogued PNe in the SMC. These 16 radio detections represent ~15 % of the total catalogued PN population in the SMC. We show that six of these objects have characteristics that suggest that they are PN mimics: LIN 41, LIN 45, SMP S11, LIN 142, LIN 321 and LIN 339. We also present our results for the surface brightness - PN radius relation ({\Sigma}-D) of the SMC radio PN population. These are consistent with previous SMC and LMC PN measurements of the ({\Sigma}-D) relation.