The Kinematics of the Nebular Shells Around Low Mass Progenitors of PNe with Low Metallicity

Abstract

We analyze the internal kinematics of 26 planetary nebulae (PNe) with low metallicity that appear to derive from progenitor stars of the lowest masses, including the halo PN population. Based upon spatially resolved, long-slit, echelle spectroscopy drawn from the San Pedro Mártir Kinematic Catalog of PNe, we characterize the kinematics of these PNe measuring their global expansion velocities based upon the largest sample used to date for this purpose. We find kinematics that follow the trends observed and predicted in other studies, but also find that most of the PNe studied here tend to have expansion velocities less than 20 km s^-1 in all of the emission lines considered. The low expansion velocities that we observe in this sample of low metallicity PNe with low mass progenitors are most likely a consequence of a weak central star (CS) wind driving the kinematics of the nebular shell. This study complements previous results that link the expansion velocities of the PN shells with the characteristics of the CS.

The observations reported herein were acquired at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in the Sierra San Pedro Mártir (OAN-SPM), B. C., Mexico.