Dissecting the Planetary Nebula NGC 4361 with MUSE

TL;DR

This study uses VLT MUSE observations to map the optical emission of planetary nebula NGC 4361, revealing its ionization structure, low ionization knots, and a serendipitous background galaxy, providing new insights into its composition and morphology.

Contribution

First detailed spatially resolved optical emission line mapping of NGC 4361 using MUSE, uncovering low ionization features and a background galaxy, advancing understanding of planetary nebula structures.

Findings

Detected low ionization knots ('Freckles') with specific physical conditions.

Confirmed the nebula is optically thin in the H-ionizing continuum.

Serendipitously discovered a background galaxy behind NGC 4361.

Abstract

The optical line and continuum emission in the very high ionization Galactic planetary nebula (PN) NGC 4361 (PN G294.1 +43.6), has been mapped with VLT MUSE Wide Field normal mode (4750-9300A) commissioning observations. The PN is larger than a single MUSE field and only the central 1 arcmin square was observed in good conditions. Images in recombination and collisionally excited emission lines were extracted and line ratios provide dust extinction, electron density and temperature and ionic abundances. The nebula is confirmed as optically thin in the H-ionizing continuum based on its very low He I emission, even to the edges of the field, but is not completely optically thin. The electron temperature Te is shown to have large-scale spatially coherent structure, as indicated from previous spectra. Prior to this study, no low ionization emission had been positively detected; MUSE revealed both weak extended [N II] and [O II] and $>$100 spatially unresolved low ionization knots (dubbed 'Freckles'). There are several linear associations of the Freckles but none point back convincingly to the central star. The Freckle spectra show low-moderate ionization with Te $\sim$11000 K, Ne $\sim$1500 cm$^{-3}$ and higher extinction than the highly ionized medium, but do not clearly differ in (He, N, O, S) abundance with respect to the extended gas. The spatial distribution and radial velocities suggest that the Freckles belong to a thick disk oriented perpendicular to the large-scale nebula, perhaps remnants of an earlier structure. Within the MUSE field, a low redshift emission line galaxy was serendipitously found hiding behind NGC 4361. The spectrum of this dwarf galaxy was extracted from the bright foreground nebular emission: it is a low luminosity disk galaxy at $\sim$87 Mpc with bright H II regions (12+log(O/H) $\sim$ 8.4), probably a Magellanic irregular or low-mass spiral. (Abridged)