High Resolution {\it BOES} Spectroscopy of Raman-scattered He~II$\lambda$6545 in Young Planetary Nebulae

TL;DR

This study presents high-resolution spectroscopy of young planetary nebulae, detecting Raman-scattered He II features, estimating their efficiencies, and inferring properties of neutral hydrogen components and stellar winds in these nebulae.

Contribution

It provides new detections of Raman-scattered He II at 6545 Å in additional planetary nebulae and estimates their physical parameters using combined spectroscopic and modeling techniques.

Findings

Detected Raman He II features in NGC 6741 and NGC 6884.

Estimated Raman conversion efficiencies for multiple nebulae.

Inferred neutral hydrogen masses and outflow velocities from spectral analysis.

Abstract

Young planetary nebulae (PNe) are characterized by their hot central stars and the presence of abundant neutral and molecular components, which result from significant mass loss during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase of stellar evolution. Far-UV \ion{He}{2}$\lambda$1025 line photons produced near the central star can undergo Raman scattering by hydrogen atoms, creating a broad emission feature centered at $\sim$ 6545~\AA. We conducted high-resolution spectroscopy of 12 young PNe from April 2019 to March 2020 using the Bohyunsan Observatory Echelle Spectrograph ({\it BOES}). Building on the study by Choi and Lee, who identified Raman-scattered \ion{He}{2} at 6545~\AA\ in NGC~6881 and NGC~6886, we report new detections of this feature in NGC~6741 and NGC~6884. Profile fitting reveals that the velocity of the \ion{H}{1} component relative to the \ion{He}{2} emission region ranges from $26-33~{\rm km~s^{-1}}$ in these PNe. Using photoionization modeling, we estimate the line flux of \ion{He}{2}$\lambda$1025 and derive Raman conversion efficiencies of 0.39, 0.21, 0.24, and 0.07 for NGC~6881, NGC~6741, NGC~6886, and NGC~6884, respectively. These results, combined with radiative transfer modeling, suggest the presence of \ion{H}{1} components with masses around $10^{-2}~M_\odot$, moving outward from the central \ion{He}{2} emission region at speeds characteristic of the slow stellar wind from a mass-losing giant star.