[Previous] | [Session 110] | [Next]
G.H. Jacoby (NOAO/KPNO), O. DeMarco (UCL)
We have surveyed ~3 square degrees in the central region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using the ESO 2.2-m CCD Mosaic imager (WFI) to search for faint planetary nebulae (PNe). Initial results indicate that our [OIII] \lambda5007 images extend the identifications ~2 mag fainter than the previous faintest survey (Jacoby 1980, ApJS 42, 1). This deep survey should increase the number of known PNe in the observed regions by a factor of 2-3, adding 50-100 PNe to the ~70 PNe currently in SMC catalogs. Many of the new faint PNe are extended, having diameters exceeding 5 arcsec (~1.4 pc), as expected for a population of old, faint, PNe.
In addition to new PNe, numerous faint and extended emission structures are evident; these may be, for example, very low surface brightness HII regions, extremely old PNe, or supernova remnants. Follow-up spectroscopy is planned for all new objects to determine their true nature, as well as to determine their chemical compositions and kinematics. From the PNe abundances, one can deduce the chemical enrichment history of the galaxy as was done in the LMC (Dopita et al 1997, ApJ 474, 188).
Images and coordinates for the new objects will be presented.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://www.noao.edu/noao/scistaff/jacoby.html. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: jacoby@noao.edu