Planetary nebulae populations in the haloes of nearby massive early-type galaxies




Hartke, J.; Arnaboldi, M.; Gerhard, O.; Ennis, A.; Pulsoni, C.; Coccato, L.; Cortesi, A.; Freeman, K.; Kuijken, K.; Merrifield, M.; Napolitano, N.

De Marco, Orsola; Zijlstra, Albert; Szczerba, Ryszard

Symposium of the International Astronomical Union

2025

 Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union

Planetary Nebulae: A Universal Toolbox in the Era of Precision Astrophysics

IAU Symposium

19

384

109

121

1743-9213

1743-9221

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1017/S174392132300577X

https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392132300577X

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/505703876



Planetary nebulae (PNe) are excellent tracers of the metal-poor haloes of nearby early-type galaxies. They are commonly used to trace spatial distribution and kinematics of the halo and intracluster light at distances of up to 100 Mpcs. The results on the early-type galaxy M105 in the Leo I group represent a benchmark for the quantitative analysis of halo and intragroup light. Since the Leo I group lies at just a 10 Mpc distance, it is at the ideal location to compare results from resolved stellar populations with the homogeneous constraints over a much larger field of view from the PN populations. In M105, we have – for the first time – established a direct link between the presence of a metal-poor halo as traced by resolved red-giant branch stars and a PN population with a high specific frequency (α-parameter). This confirms our inferences that the high α-parameter PN population in the outer halo of M49 in the Virgo Cluster traces the metal-poor halo and intra-group light.


J.H. and A.I.E. acknowledge the financial support from the visitor and mobility program of the Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA), funded by the Academy of Finland grant nr 306531.


Last updated on 03/12/2025 12:54:19 PM