Low-ionization structures in planetary nebulae -- III. The statistical analysis of physico-chemical parameters and excitation mechanisms

TL;DR

This study statistically analyzes the physical, chemical, and excitation properties of low-ionization structures in planetary nebulae, comparing them with high-ionization regions to understand their differences and excitation mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the largest statistical comparison of LISs and high-ionization structures, highlighting differences in density, temperature, and excitation, and evaluates the roles of photoionization and shocks.

Findings

LISs have lower electron densities than rims/shells.

Temperatures are similar for nitrogen, but bimodal for oxygen in rims/shells.

Shocks are not the main excitation mechanism for most LISs.

Abstract

Nearly 30 years after the first detailed studies of low-ionization structures (LISs) in planetary nebulae (PNe), we perform a statistical analysis of their physical, chemical and excitation properties, by collecting published data in the literature. The analysis was made through the contrast between LISs and high-ionization structures -- rims or shells -- for a large sample of PNe, in order to highlight significant differences between these structures. Our motivation was to find robust results based on the largest sample of LISs gathered so far. (i) Indeed, LISs have lower electron densities (N$_{e}$[S~II]) than the rims/shells. (ii) The nitrogen electron temperatures (T$_{e}$[N~II]) are similar between the two groups, while a bimodal distribution is observed for the T$_{e}$ based on [O~III] of the rims/shells, although the high- and low-ionization structures have T$_{e}$[O~III] of similar median values. (iii) No significant variations are observed in total abundances of He, N, O, Ne, Ar, Cl and S between the two groups. (iv) Through the analysis of several diagnostic diagrams, LISs are separated from rims/shells in terms of excitation. From two large grids of photoionization and shock models, we show that there is an important overlap between both mechanisms, particularly when low-ionization line-ratios are concerned. We found a good tracer of high-velocity shocks, as well as an indicator of high- and low-velocity shocks that depends on temperature-sensitive line ratios. In conclusion, both excitation mechanisms could be present, however shocks cannot be the main source of excitation for most of the LISs of PNe.