Distinguishing between symbiotic stars and planetary nebulae

TL;DR

This paper develops new diagnostic tools based on emission line ratios, especially He I lines, to distinguish symbiotic stars from planetary nebulae, and identifies new candidate symbiotic stars in nearby galaxies.

Contribution

It introduces novel diagnostic diagrams using optical emission lines, particularly He I lines, to improve separation of symbiotic stars from planetary nebulae.

Findings

He I lines are more effective for distinguishing SySt from PNe.

Six new candidate SySt identified in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Candidate in M81 could be the furthest known SySt.

Abstract

Number of known symbiotic stars (SySt) is still significantly lower than their predicted population. One of the main problems in finding complete population of SySt is the fact that their spectrum can be confused with other objects, such as planetary nebulae (PNe) or dense H II regions. The problem is reinforced by a fact that in significant fraction of established SySt the emission lines used to distinguish them from other objects are not present. We aim at finding new diagnostic diagrams that could help separate SySt from PNe. Additionally, we examine known sample of extragalactic PNe for candidate SySt. We employed emission line fluxes of known SySt and PNe from the literature. We found that among the forbidden lines in the optical region of spectrum, only the [O III] and [N II] lines can be used as a tool for distinguishing between SySt and PNe, which is consistent with the fact that they have the highest critical densities. The most useful diagnostic that we propose is based on He I lines which are more common and stronger in SySt than forbidden lines. All these useful diagnostic diagrams are electron density indicators that better distinguishes PNe and ionized symbiotic nebulae. Moreover, we found six new candidate SySt in the Large Magellanic Cloud and one in M81. If confirmed, the candidate in M81 would be the furthest known SySt thus far.