A Survey of 3–5.4 μm Emission from Planetary Nebulae Using SOFIA/FLITECAM

Abstract

Here we present the results of an airborne 3–5.4 μ m spectroscopic study of three young, carbon-rich planetary nebulae (PNs) IC 5117, PNG 093.9-00.1, and BD +30 3639. These observations were made using the grism spectroscopy mode of the First Light Infrared TEst CAMera (FLITECAM) instrument during airborne science operations on board NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The goal of this study is to characterize the 3.3 and 5.25 μ m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) dust emission in PNs and study the evolution of PAH features within evolved stars before their incorporation into new stellar systems in star-forming regions. Targets were selected from Infrared Astronomical Satellite, Kuiper Airborne Observatory and Infrared Space Observatory source lists, and were previously observed with FLITECAM on the 3 m Shane telescope at Lick Observatory to allow direct comparison between the ground and airborne observations. We measure PAH emission equivalent width and central wavelength, classify the shape of the PAH emission, and determine the PAH/aliphatic ratio for each target. The 3.3 μ m PAH emission feature is observed in all three objects. PNG 093.9-00.1 exhibits NGC 7027-like aliphatic emission in the 3.4–3.6 μ m region while IC 5117 and BD +30 3639 exhibit less aliphatic structure. All three PNs additionally exhibit PAH emission at 5.25 μ m.