Bulk outflow or global expansion velocities are presented for a large number of planetary nebulae (PNe) that span a wide range of evolutionary stages and different stellar populations. The sample comprises 133 PNe from the Galactic bulge, 100 mature and highly evolved PNe from the disk, 11 PNe from the Galactic halo and 15 PNe with very low central star masses and low metallicities, for a total of 259 PNe. These results reveal from a statistical perspective the kinematic evolution of the expansion velocities of PNe in relation to changing characteristics of the central star’s wind and ionizing luminosity and as a function of the evolutionary rate determined by the central (CS) mass. The large number of PNe utilized in this work for each group of PNe under study and the homogeneity of the data provide for the first time a solid benchmark form observations for model predictions, as has been described by López et al. (2016).

The AMANDE facility produces mono-energetic neutron fields from 2 keV to 20 MeV with a metrological quality (Gressier et al. 2004). To be considered as a standard facility, fluence and energy distributions of neutron fields have to be mastered, i.e. measured by primary detector standards. For this purpose, a new gaseous Time Projection Chamber (μTPC) is being developed within the MIMAC project devoted to directional Dark Matter search (Billard et al. 2010). The μTPC is dedicated to measure neutron fields from 2 keV up to 1 MeV. The measurement strategy requires track reconstruction of recoiling nuclei down to a few keV, which can be achieved with low pressure gaseous detectors. Hence the energy must be measured precisely and the track of the recoiling nucleus must be 3D reconstructed. This is achieved with a low pressure micropattern gaseous detector (a pixelized bulk micromegas) equipped with a self triggered electronics able to perform the anode sampling at a 50 MHz frequency. Methods to measure fluence and neutron energy with the TPC have been described.

We present the most extensive, long-slit, high-resolution coverage of the complex planetary nebula (PN), NGC 7026. Ten spectra were acquired using the Manchester Echelle Spectrometer at San Pedro Martir Observatory in Baja California, Mexico, and each shows exquisite detail, revealing the intricate structure of this object. Incorporating these spectra into the 3-dimensional visualization and kinematic program, Shape, and using HST images of NGC 7026, we have produced a detailed structural and kinematic model of this PN. Knowledge of the 3-D structure of this nebula is relevant to understand the physics behind the extended X-ray emission in this object.

The San Pedro Mártir kinematic catalogue of galactic planetary nebulae provides spatially resolved, long-slit, Echelle spectra for about 600 planetary nebulae, representing 55 observing runs and about 4000 individual integrations to date in this first release. The project is ongoing and will continue adding spectra to the database. The data are presented wavelength calibrated and corrected for heliocentric motion. This is the most extensive and homogeneous single source of data concerning the internal kinematics of the ionized nebular material in planetary nebulae. The catalogue is available through the world wide web at http://kincatpn.astrosen.unam.mx and an article will a full description of the catalogue will soon appear in the RevMexAA.

From the sample of 613 PNe used in the paper ‘Revised Diagnostic Diagrams for Planetary Nebulae’ (Riesgo & López, 2006) we have isolated a subsample of 51 PNe defined by log [H$\alpha$/[N II]]$<0$ and log [H$\alpha$/[S II]] $<0.4$. These objects have extremely intense [N II] and [S II] lines with respect to H$\alpha$ and are indicative of either very low excitation and/or high optical depth conditions, abundance effects in the case of N or cooling effects in shock excited regions, such as those expected in high velocity, collimated outflows. We have undertaken an imaging and detailed kinematic study of all the members of the subsample visible from the northern hemisphere. In this work we discuss the results and some correlations found between the anomalous line ratios in these objects and their morphological and kinematic characteristics.

The San Pedro Mártir Kinematic Catalogue of Planetary Nebulae aims at providing detailed kinematic information for galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) and bright PNe in the Local Group. The database provides long-slit, Echelle spectra and images where the location of the slits on the nebula are indicated. As a tool to help interpret the 2D line profiles or position-velocity data, an atlas of synthetic emission line spectra accompanies the Catalogue. The atlas has been produced with the code SHAPE and contains synthetic spectra for all the main morphological groups for a wide range of spatial orientations and slit locations over the nebula.

From VLT FORS1 on-band, off-band imaging of the dIrr NGC3109 we have identified about 13 PN candidates. According to our criteria for PN candidate selection, most of the candidates reported by Richer & McCall (1992) are in fact compact HII regions. Further multi-object VLT FORS1 spectroscopy has confirmed the PN nature of at least 6 candidates. All but one of the PNe analyzed are low excitation nebulae, showing no He II emission lines. For several PNe and HII regions, we derived chemical abundances based on electron temperatures measured from the [O III] 4363/5007 line ratios. Preliminary results show that PNe present log(O/H)+12 in the range from 7.7 to 8.4, while in HII regions this quantity spreads in a much narrower range from 7.6 to 7.8. Thus, the ISM in NGC 3109 seems chemically homogeneous.

We present non-LTE models of the wind for the central star in NGC 6543. The models suggest that the star is hydrogen-rich. The iron composition is solar, which, in turn, suggests that the hot X-ray emitting gas is of nebular origin.

PN G 135.9 +55.9 is an extraordinary nebula discovered recently in the Galactic halo (Tovmassian et al. 2001). The first studies estimated its oxygen abundance to be 1/100 of the solar value or even less.

Being extremely metal-poor, PNG 135.9+55.9 offers an unprecedented opportunity to check our understanding of the evolution of intermediate-mass stars at very low metallicity, by complementing the data obtained from metal-poor giants (Spite et al 2005). Indeed, PNG 135.9+55.9 and some of those stars are snapshots of the evolution of very similar stars at different times.

We present our most recent abundance analysis for this object, providing stringent limits on the abundances of C, N, O, and Ne, to be confronted with the predictions for the yields of low metallicity intermediate mass stars.

Color-magnitude diagrams reaching from the giant branches to Vlim ~ 27.0, or about three magnitudes fainter than the turnoff, have been obtained in V and I with WFPC2 on HST for NGC 2419, Pal 3, Pal 4 and Eridanus, whose relative ages are discussed.

HST V, I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of four outer-halo clusters, NGC 2419, Pa13, Pal4 and Eridanus, provide insight into the relative ages of old star clusters throughout the 200 kpc diameter volume sampled, and thus into the formation epoch of the Milky Way galaxy.

We consider the possibility of using bright planetary nebulae to study the chemical evolution of their parent galaxies. In particular, we would like to use planetary nebulae as abundance probes in galaxies where star formation ended long ago, such as ellipticals or the bulges of spirals, and in which no other direct probes exist. However, if we are to use planetary nebulae to study the chemical evolution of their parent galaxies, we must relate the oxygen abundance in bright planetary nebulae to the oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium when star formation stopped. Obviously, only theoretical modelling can provide this information once star formation has stopped.

We have obtained spectra of 28 planetary nebulae in the bulge of M31 using the MOS spectrograph at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Typically, we observed the [O II] λ3727 to He I λ5876 wavelength region at a resolution of approximately 1.6 å/pixel. For 19 of the 21 planetary nebulae whose [OIII]λ5007 luminosities are within 1 mag of the peak of the planetary nebula luminosity function, our oxygen abundances are based upon a measured [OIII]λ4363 intensity, so they are based upon a measured electron temperature. The oxygen abundances cover a wide range, 7.85 dex < 12 + log(O/H) < 9.09 dex, but the mean abundance is surprisingly low, 12 + log(O/H)–8.64 ± 0.32 dex, i.e., roughly half the solar value (Anders & Grevesse 1989). The distribution of oxygen abundances is shown in Figure 1, where the ordinate indicates the number of planetary nebulae with abundances within ±0.1 dex of any point on the x-axis. The dashed line indicates the mean abundance, and the dotted lines indicate the ±1 σ points. The shape of this abundance distribution seems to indicate that the bulge of M31 does not contain a large population of bright, oxygen-rich planetary nebulae. This is a surprising result, for various population synthesis studies (e.g., Bica et al. 1990) have found a mean stellar metallicity approximately 0.2 dex above solar. This 0.5 dex discrepancy leads one to question whether the mean stellar metallicity is as high as the population synthesis results indicate or if such metal-rich stars produce bright planetary nebulae at all. This could be a clue concerning the mechanism responsible for the variation in the number of bright planetary nebulae observed per unit luminosity in different galaxies (e.g., Hui et al. 1993).

Using theoretical models of the planetary nebula populations in galaxies, we investigate whether the current oxygen abundances in bright planetary nebulae can be used to predict the oxygen abundance that persisted in the interstellar medium when star formation stopped. In all galaxies, these models predict that a gap develops between the abundances observed in bright planetary nebulae and those that persisted in the interstellar medium when star formation stopped. This abundance gap depends primarily upon the oxygen abundance achieved in the interstellar medium when star formation stopped, though it also has some sensitivity to the history of star formation. The gap is always less than 0.5dex in these models. For the Milky Way, the predicted abundance gap, 0.14dex, is identical to that observed. The abundance gap magnifies the abundance-related differences between diffuse ellipticals and dwarf irregulars found by Richer & McCall (1995, ApJ, 445, 642). Diffuse ellipticals are confirmed to have larger oxygen abundances than similarly luminous dwarf irregulars, and to have larger [O/Fe] ratios than dwarf irregulars with the same oxygen abundance. The simplest explanation for both of these observations is that diffuse ellipticals formed on shorter time scales than dwarf irregulars. Given this difference in the history of star formation, diffuse ellipticals cannot be the faded remnants of dwarf irregulars.

The WFPC2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope has been used to obtain deep images in three fields at different radial positions in the nearest Globular cluster, M4 (NGC 6121). In this paper, we discuss the white dwarf cooling sequence and show how the dynamical structure of the cluster will affect their cumulative distribution function. We also present the first discussion of our observations of the faint cluster main sequence stars.

Primordial binaries in globular clusters are important both because their properties are an integral part of the description of the stellar population and because they can strongly influence the dynamical evolution of the cluster (see Hut, this volume).