The planetary nebula NGC 6153 through the eyes of MUSE

TL;DR

This study uses MUSE observations to map the physical conditions and abundance discrepancies in the planetary nebula NGC 6153, revealing co-existing cold metal-rich and warm normal gas phases.

Contribution

It provides spatially resolved maps of physical parameters and ADF in NGC 6153, supporting the existence of two distinct gas phases and emphasizing the importance of correcting recombination contributions.

Findings

ADF peaks centrally in NGC 6153

Cold, metal-rich gas coexists with warm, normal metallicity gas

Proper correction of recombination lines is essential for accurate diagnostics

Abstract

In this contribution, we present the results of a study on the high abundance discrepancy factor (ADF $\sim$ 10) planetary nebula (PN) NGC 6153 with MUSE. We have constructed flux maps for dozens of emission lines, that allowed us to build spatially resolved maps of extinction, electron temperature ($T_{\rm e}$), electron density ($n_{\rm e}$), and ionic abundances. We have simultaneously constructed ADF maps for O$^+$ and O$^{2+}$ and found that they centrally peak in this PN, with a remarkable spatial coincidence with the low $T_{\rm e}$ found from recombination line diagnostics. This finding strongly supports the hypothesis that two distinct gas phases co-exist: one cold and metal-rich, and a second warm and with ``normal'' metal content. We show that to build $T_{\rm e}$([N II]) and ionic abundance maps of low-ionization species for these objects, recombination contribution to the auroral [N II] and [O II] lines must be properly evaluated and corrected.