Extragalactic planetary nebulae -- tracers of kinematics and stellar populations out to 100 Mpc

TL;DR

Extragalactic planetary nebulae are vital stellar tracers for studying galaxy properties and evolution out to 100 Mpc, especially with upcoming advanced spectroscopic instruments.

Contribution

This paper highlights the importance of xPNe as unique probes for galaxy kinematics and stellar populations at large distances, emphasizing new observational capabilities.

Findings

xPNe serve as key tracers for galaxy halos and intracluster light.

New instruments will enable detailed characterization of xPNe populations.

xPNe can be used to study age and metallicity of stellar populations.

Abstract

Extragalactic planetary nebulae (xPNe) in galaxies beyond the Local Universe serve as discrete tracers for studying the element abundances and kinematics of galaxies covering a wide range of morphologies and masses at a variety of angular distances, from the centre well out into their haloes. They are direct stellar probes to identify the galaxy progenitors of haloes and the intracluster light. Even with new facilities, reaching higher angular resolution and sensitivity, xPNe are the only stellar tracers that can be directly and singularly detected and characterised out to 100 Mpc distance, making them crucial for tracing halo and intracluster light assembly. New wide-field spectroscopic instruments at 10+meter-class telescopes will allow the unprecedented characterisation of xPN populations from galaxy centres to their diffuse outskirts. Panoramic integral-field spectroscopy will enable the simultaneous study of xPN and stellar population properties, establishing their use as age- and metallicity-tracers while also improving post-AGB stellar evolution models.