The evolution of Galactic planetary nebula progenitors through the comparison of their nebular abundances with AGB yields

TL;DR

This study analyzes the chemical abundances of 142 Galactic planetary nebulae to infer the properties and evolution of their progenitor stars by comparing observations with AGB stellar models.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison of nebular abundances with AGB yields, revealing progenitor mass ranges, formation epochs, and dust properties, enhancing understanding of stellar evolution.

Findings

Majority of PNe have near-solar composition.

Approximately 40% of PNe have sub-solar metallicities.

Progenitors include carbon stars, nitrogen-rich, and oxygen-rich stars.

Abstract

We study the chemical abundances of a wide sample of 142 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) with good quality observations, for which the abundances have been derived more or less homogeneously, thus allowing a reasonable comparison with stellar models. The goal is the determination of mass, chemical composition and formation epoch of their progenitors, through comparison of the data with results from AGB evolution. The dust properties of PNe, when available, were also used to further support our interpretation. We find that the majority ($\sim60\%$) of the Galactic PNe studied has nearly solar chemical composition, while $\sim40\%$ of the sources investigated have sub-solar metallicities. About half of the PNe have carbon star progenitors, in the $1.5~M_{\odot} < M < 3~M_{\odot}$ mass range, which have formed between 300 Myr and 2 Gyr ago. The remaining PNe are almost equally distributed among PNe enriched in nitrogen, which we interpret as the progeny of $M > 3.5~M_{\odot}$ stars, younger than 250 Myr, and a group of oxygen-rich PNe, descending from old ($> 2$ Gyr) low-mass ($M < 1.5~M_{\odot}$) stars that never became C-stars. This analysis confirms the existence of an upper limit to the amount of carbon which can be accumulated at the surface of carbon stars, probably due to the acceleration of mass loss in the late AGB phases. The chemical composition of the present sample suggests that in massive AGB stars of solar (or slightly sub-solar) metallicity, the effects of third dredge up combine with hot bottom burning, resulting in nitrogen-rich - but not severely carbon depleted - gaseous material to be ejected.