Gaia DR2 Distances to Planetary Nebulae

Abstract

The aim of this work is to examine distances to planetary nebulae (PNe) together with other properties that were derived from them, using the astrometry of Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2). We were able to identify 1571 objects classified as PNe, for which we assumed distances calculated following a Bayesian statistical approach. From those objects, we selected a sample of PNe with good quality parallax measurements and distance derivations, which we called Golden Astrometry PNe sample (GAPN). In this paper we will review the physical properties of the stars and nebulae in this subsample of PNe.

Keywords

• planetary nebulae
• general stars
• distances stars
• evolution
• Hertzsprung-Russell and colour–magnitude diagrams
• galaxy