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 Tiny bat vs mighty Eagle.Not Available Planetary Nebula Abundances and Morphology: Probing the Chemical Evolution of the Milky WayThis paper presents a homogeneous study of abundances in a sample of 79northern Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) whose morphological classeshave been uniformly determined. Ionic abundances and plasma diagnosticswere derived from selected optical line strengths in the literature, andelemental abundances were estimated with the ionization correctionfactor developed by Kingsbourgh & Barlow in 1994. We compare theelemental abundances to the final yields obtained from stellar evolutionmodels of low- and intermediate-mass stars, and we confirm that mostbipolar PNe have high nitrogen and helium abundance and are the likelyprogeny of stars with main-sequence mass greater than 3Msolar. We derive =0.27 and discuss the implication of such ahigh ratio in connection with the solar neon abundance. We determine theGalactic gradients of oxygen and neon and foundΔlog(O/H)/ΔR=-0.01 dex kpc-1 andΔlog(Ne/H)/ΔR=-0.01 dex kpc-1. These flat PNgradients are irreconcilable with Galactic metallicity gradientsflattening with time. The structure of planetary nebulae: theory vs. practiceContext.This paper is the first in a short series dedicated to thelong-standing astronomical problem of de-projecting the bi-dimensional,apparent morphology of a three-dimensional mass of gas. Aims.Wefocus on the density distribution in real planetary nebulae (and alltypes of expanding nebulae). Methods. We introduce some basictheoretical notions, discuss the observational methodology, and developan accurate procedure for determining the matter radial profile withinthe sharp portion of nebula in the plane of the sky identified by thezero-velocity-pixel-column (zvpc) of high-resolution spectral images.Results. The general and specific applications of the method (andsome caveats) are discussed. Moreover, we present a series of evolutivesnapshots, combining illustrative examples of both model and trueplanetary nebulae. Conclusions. The zvpc radial-densityreconstruction - added to tomography and 3D recovery developed at theAstronomical Observatory of Padua (Italy) - constitutes a very usefultool for looking more closely at the spatio-kinematics, physicalconditions, ionic structure, and evolution of expanding nebulae. The Chemical Composition of Galactic Planetary Nebulae with Regard to Inhomogeneity in the Gas Density in Their EnvelopesThe results of a study of the chemical compositions of Galacticplanetary nebulae taking into account two types of inhomogeneity in thenebular gas density in their envelopes are reported. New analyticalexpressions for the ionization correction factors have been derived andare used to determine the chemical compositions of the nebular gas inGalactic planetary nebulae. The abundances of He, N, O, Ne, S, and Arhave been found for 193 objects. The Y Z diagrams for various Heabundances are analyzed for type II planetary nebulae separately andjointly with HII regions. The primordial helium abundance Y p andenrichment ratio dY/dZ are determined, and the resulting values arecompared with the data of other authors. Radial abundance gradients inthe Galactic disk are studied using type II planetary nebulae. Planetary nebula distances re-examined: an improved statistical scaleThe distances of planetary nebulae (PNe) are still quite uncertain.Although observational estimates are available for a small proportion ofPNe, based on statistical parallax and the like, such distances are verypoorly determined for the majority of galactic PNe. In particular,estimates of so-called statistical' distance appear to differ byfactors of ~2.7.We point out that there is a well-defined correlation between the 5-GHzluminosity of the sources, L5, and their brightnesstemperatures, TB. This represents a different trend to thoseinvestigated in previous statistical analyses, and permits us todetermine independent distances to a further 449 outflows. Thesedistances are shown to be closely comparable to those determined using aTB-R correlation, providing that the latter trend is taken tobe non-linear.This non-linearity in the TB-R plane has not been noted inprevious analyses, and is likely responsible for the broad (andconflicting) ranges of distance that have previously been published.Finally, we point out that there is a close accord between observedtrends within the L5-TB and TB-Rplanes, and the variation predicted through nebular evolutionarymodelling. This is used to suggest that observational biases areprobably modest, and that our revised distance scale is reasonablytrustworthy. The distances of Type I planetary nebulaeThe distances D of planetary nebulae (PNe) are still extremelyuncertain. Although a variety of methods have been used to evaluate thisparameter, these are often in conflict, and subject to large random andsystematic errors. It is therefore important to evaluate D using as manyindependent procedures as possible. We outline here one further way inwhich this parameter may be assessed. It is noted that where the nebularmass range is narrow, then one might expect observed PNe radii to beroughly similar. This, where it occurs, would also result in acorrelation between their angular diameters Θ, and distances D.We find that just such a trend occurs for Type I nebulae, and we employthis to determine distances to a further 44 such outflows. Our meanvalues of D appear similar to those of Zhang [ApJS 98 (1995) 659],implying a relatively long PNe distance scale. The relation between Zanstra temperature and morphology in planetary nebulaeWe have created a master list of Zanstra temperatures for 373 galacticplanetary nebulae based upon a compilation of 1575 values taken from thepublished literature. These are used to evaluate mean trends intemperature for differing nebular morphologies. Among the most prominentresults of this analysis is the tendency forη=TZ(HeII)/TZ(HeI) to increase with nebularradius, a trend which is taken to arise from the evolution of shelloptical depths. We find that as many as 87 per cent of nebulae may beoptically thin to H ionizing radiation where radii exceed ~0.16 pc. Wealso note that the distributions of values η and TZ(HeII)are quite different for circular, elliptical and bipolar nebulae. Acomparison of observed temperatures with theoretical H-burning trackssuggests that elliptical and circular sources arise from progenitorswith mean mass ≅ 1 Msolar(although the elliptical progenitors are probably more massive).Higher-temperature elliptical sources are likely to derive fromprogenitors with mass ≅2 Msolar, however, implying thatthese nebulae (at least) are associated with a broad swathe ofprogenitor masses. Such a conclusion is also supported by trends in meangalactic latitude. It is found that higher-temperature ellipticalsources have much lower mean latitudes than those with smallerTZ(HeII), a trend which is explicable where there is anincrease in with increasing TZ(HeII).This latitude-temperature variation also applies for most other sources.Bipolar nebulae appear to have mean progenitor masses ≅2.5Msolar, whilst jets, Brets and other highly collimatedoutflows are associated with progenitors at the other end of the massrange (~ 1 Msolar). Indeed it ispossible, given their large mean latitudes and low peak temperatures,that the latter nebulae are associated with the lowest-mass progenitorsof all.The present results appear fully consistent with earlier analyses basedupon nebular scale heights, shell abundances and the relativeproportions of differing morphologies, and offer further evidence for alink between progenitor mass and morphology. Galactic Planetary Nebulae and their central stars. I. An accurate and homogeneous set of coordinatesWe have used the 2nd generation of the Guide Star Catalogue (GSC-II) asa reference astrometric catalogue to compile the positions of 1086Galactic Planetary Nebulae (PNe) listed in the Strasbourg ESO Catalogue(SEC), its supplement and the version 2000 of the Catalogue of PlanetaryNebulae. This constitutes about 75% of all known PNe. For these PNe, theones with a known central star (CS) or with a small diameter, we havederived coordinates with an absolute accuracy of ~0\farcs35 in eachcoordinate, which is the intrinsic astrometric precision of the GSC-II.For another 226, mostly extended, objects without a GSC-II counterpartwe give coordinates based on the second epoch Digital Sky Survey(DSS-II). While these coordinates may have systematic offsets relativeto the GSC-II of up to 5 arcsecs, our new coordinates usually representa significant improvement over the previous catalogue values for theselarge objects. This is the first truly homogeneous compilation of PNepositions over the whole sky and the most accurate one available so far.The complete Table \ref{tab2} is only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/408/1029} Angular dimensions of planetary nebulaeWe have measured angular dimensions of 312 planetary nebulae from theirimages obtained in Hα (or Hα + [NII]). We have appliedthree methods of measurements: direct measurements at the 10% level ofthe peak surface brightness, Gaussian deconvolution and second-momentdeconvolution. The results from the three methods are compared andanalysed. We propose a simple deconvolution of the 10% levelmeasurements which significantly improves the reliability of thesemeasurements for compact and partially resolved nebulae. Gaussiandeconvolution gives consistent but somewhat underestimated diameterscompared to the 10% measurements. Second-moment deconvolution givesresults in poor agreement with those from the other two methods,especially for poorly resolved nebulae. From the results of measurementsand using the conclusions of our analysis we derive the final nebulardiameters which should be free from systematic differences between small(partially resolved) and extended (well resolved) objects in our sample.Table 1 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org The relation between elemental abundances and morphology in planetary nebulaeAn investigation of the variation of elemental abundances with planetarynebula morphology is of considerable interest, since it has a bearingupon how such sources are formed, and from which progenitors they areejected. Recent advances in morphological classification now enable usto assess such trends for a statistically significant number of sources.We find, as a result, that the distribution N[log(X/H)] of sources withrespect to elemental abundance (X/H) varies between the differingmorphologies. Circular sources tend to peak towards low abundancevalues, whilst bipolar nebulae (BPNe) peak towards somewhat highervalues. This applies for most elemental species, although it is perhapsleast apparent for oxygen. In contrast, elliptical sources appear todisplay much broader functions N[log(X/H)], which trespass upon thedomains of both circular and elliptical planetary nebulae (PNe).We take these trends to imply that circular sources derive fromlower-mass progenitors, bipolar sources from higher-mass stars, and thatelliptical nebulae derive from all masses of progenitor, high and low.Whilst such trends are also evident in values of mean abundance, they are much less clear. Only in the cases of He/H, N/H,Ne/H and perhaps Ar/H is there evidence for significant abundancedifferences.Certain BPNe appear to possess low abundance ratios He/H and Ar/H, andthis confirms that a few such outflows may arise from lower-massprogenitors. Similarly, we note that ratios are quite modestin elliptical planetary nebulae, and not much different from those forcircular and bipolar PNe; a result that conflicts with the expectationsof at least one model of shell formation. The Dynamical Evolution of the Circumstellar Gas around Low- and Intermediate-Mass Stars. II. The Planetary Nebula FormationWe have studied the effect of the mass of the central star (CS) on thegas evolution during the planetary nebula (PN) phase. We have performednumerical simulations of PN formation using CS tracks for six stellarcore masses corresponding to initial masses from 1 to 5Msolar. The gas structure resulting from the previousasymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolution is used as the startingconfiguration. The formation of multiple shells is discussed in thelight of our models, and the density, velocity, and Hα emissionbrightness profiles are shown for each stellar mass considered. We havecomputed the evolution of the different shells in terms of radius,expansion velocity, and Hα peak emissivity. We find that theevolution of the main shell is controlled by the ionization front ratherthan by the thermal pressure provided by the hot bubble during the earlyPN stages. This effect explains why the kinematical ages overestimatethe age in young CSs. At later stages in the evolution and for low-massprogenitors the kinematical ages severely underestimate the CS age.Large (up to 2.3 pc), low surface brightness shells (less than 2000times the brightness of the main shell) are formed in all of our models(with the exception of the 5 Msolar model). These PN haloscontain most of the ionized mass in PNe, which we find is greatlyunderestimated by the observations because of the low surface brightnessof the halos. The Correlations between Planetary Nebula Morphology and Central Star Evolution: Analysis of the Northern Galactic SampleNorthern Galactic planetary nebulae (PNs) are studied to disclosepossible correlations between the morphology of the nebulae and theevolution of the central stars (CSs). To this end, we have built thebest database available to date, accounting for homogeneity andcompleteness. We use updated statistical distances and an updatedmorphological classification scheme, and we calculate Zanstratemperatures for a large sample of PNs. With our study we confirm thatround, elliptical, and bipolar PNs have different spatial distributionswithin the Galaxy, with average absolute distances to the Galactic planeof 0.73, 0.38, and 0.21 kpc, respectively. We also find evidence thatthe distributions of the CS masses are different across thesemorphological groups, although we do not find that CSs hosted by bipolarPNs are hotter, on average, than CSs within round and elliptical PNs.Our results are in broad agreement with previous analyses, indicatingthat round, elliptical, and bipolar PNs evolve from progenitors indifferent mass ranges and might belong to different stellar populations,as also indicated by the helium and nitrogen abundances of PNs ofdifferent morphology. The distance scale of planetary nebulaeBy collecting distances from the literature, a set of 73 planetarynebulae with mean distances of high accuracy is derived. This sample isused for recalibration of the mass-radius relationship, used by manystatistical distance methods. An attempt to correct for a statisticalpeculiarity, where errors in the distances influences the mass-radiusrelationship by increasing its slope, has been made for the first time.Distances to PNe in the Galactic Bulge, derived by this new method aswell as other statistical methods from the last decade, are then usedfor the evaluation of these methods as distance indicators. In order ofachieving a Bulge sample that is free from outliers we derive newcriteria for Bulge membership. These criteria are much more stringentthan those used hitherto, in the sense that they also discriminateagainst background objects. By splitting our Bulge sample in two, onewith optically thick (small) PNe and one with optically thin (large)PNe, we find that our calibration is of higher accuracy than most othercalibrations. Differences between the two subsamples, we believe, aredue to the incompleteness of the Bulge sample, as well as the dominanceof optical diameters in the thin'' sample and radio diameters in thethick'' sample. Our final conclusion is that statistical methods givedistances that are at least as accurate as the ones obtained from manyindividual methods. Also, the long'' distance scale of Galactic PNe isconfirmed. Gravity distances of planetary nebulae II. Aplication to a sample of galactic objects.Not Available Recessional Halos in Planetary Nebulae: An Undervalued Aspect of Nebular MorphologyMany planetary nebulae (PNs) are known to possess halos, the origins ofwhich are ill determined. We suggest that several of the brighter halos,at least, are likely to arise through contraction of ionization frontswithin the nebular shell, a situation that may arise where central startemperatures and luminosities decline at intermediate phases of PNevolution. We show that such halos may be long-lived and possessappreciable levels of emission for periods of ~103 yr or so.We also find that several well-known halo sources possess propertiesconsistent with this hypothesis and that two further sources may havedeveloped halos as a result of late helium flash. The dust content of planetary nebulae: a reappraisalWe have performed a statistical analysis using broad band IRAS data onabout 500 planetary nebulae with the aim of characterizing their dustcontent. Our approach is different from previous studies in that it usesan extensive grid of photoionization models to test the methods forderiving the dust temperature, the dust-to-gas mass ratio and theaverage grain size. In addition, we use only distance independentdiagrams. With our models, we show the effect of contamination by atomiclines in the broad band IRAS fluxes during planetary nebula evolution.We find that planetary nebulae with very different dust-to-gas massratios exist, so that the dust content is a primordial parameter for theinterpretation of far infrared data of planetary nebulae. In contrastwith previous studies, we find no evidence for a decrease in thedust-to-gas mass ratio as the planetary nebulae evolve. We also showthat the decrease in grain size advocated by Natta & Panagia(\cite{NattaPanagia}) and Lenzuni et al. (\cite{Lenzuni}) is an artefactof their method of analysis. Our results suggest that the timescale fordestruction of dust grains in planetary nebulae is larger than theirlifetime. Table~1 is only accessible in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html Visual Wide Binaries and the Structure of Planetary NebulaeIn recent work Ciardullo et al. listed 19 planetary nebulae surveyed bythe Hubble Space Telescope for the presence of resolved visual binarycompanions of their central stars. For 10 planetary nebulae they arguefor probable physical association of the resolved stars with the centralstars, while for nine the association is less likely. Such stellarcompanions, at orbital separations of hundreds to thousands ofastronomical units, will cause the structures of these planetary nebulaeto possess a nonaxisymmetric signature. By using images from theliterature of these 19 planetary nebulae, I demonstrate that thestructures of the planetary nebulae are compatible in most cases withthe arguments of Ciardullo et al. for association or nonassociation ofthe resolved stars with the planetary nebulae central stars. This showsthat whether a planetary nebula departs from having purely axisymmetricstructure can be used to strengthen an argument for an association or anonassociation of a putative wide companion with the stellar progenitorof the nebula. Infrared Planetary Nebulae in the NRAO VLA Sky SurveyIn order to construct a sample of planetary nebulae (PNe) unbiased bydust extinction, we first selected the 1358 sources in the IRAS PointSource Catalog north of J2000 declination delta=-40^deg having measuredS(25 μm)>=1 Jy and colors characteristic of PNe: detections orupper limits consistent with both S(12 μm)<=0.35S(25 μm) andS(25 μm)>=0.35S(60 μm). The majority are radio-quietcontaminating sources such as asymptotic giant branch stars. Free-freeemission from genuine PNe should make them radio sources. The 1.4 GHzNRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) images and source catalog were used to rejectradio-quiet mid-infrared sources. We identified 454 IRAS sources withradio sources brighter than S~2.5 mJy beam^-1 (equivalent to T~0.8 K inthe 45" FHWM NVSS beam) by positional coincidence. They comprise 332known PNe in the Strasbourg-ESO Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulaeand 122 candidate PNe, most of which lie at very low Galactic latitudes.Exploratory optical spectroscopic observations suggest that most ofthese candidates are indeed PNe optically dimmed by dust extinction,although some contamination remains from H II regions, Seyfert galaxies,etc. Furthermore, the NVSS failed to detect only 4% of the known PNe inour infrared sample. Thus it appears that radio selection can greatlyimprove the reliability of PN candidate samples withoutsacrificingcompleteness. A HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE Survey for Resolved Companions of Planetary Nebula NucleiWe report the results of a Hubble Space Telescope snapshot'' surveyaimed at finding resolved binary companions of the central stars ofGalactic planetary nebulae (PNe). Using the the Wide Field and PlanetaryCamera and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, we searched the fields of 113PNe for stars whose close proximity to the central star suggests aphysical association. In all, we find 10 binary nuclei that are verylikely to be physically associated and another six that are possiblebinary associations. By correcting for interstellar extinction andplacing the central stars' companions on the main sequence (or, in onecase, on the white dwarf cooling curve), we derive distances to theobjects, and thereby significantly increase the number of PNe withreliable distances. Comparison of our derived distances with thoseobtained from various statistical methods shows that all of the latterhave systematically overestimated the distances, by factors ranging upto a factor of 2 or more. We show that this error is most likely due tothe fact that the properties of our PNe with binary nuclei aresystematically different from those of PNe used heretofore to calibratestatistical methods. Specifically, our PNe tend to have lower surfacebrightnesses at the same physical radius than the traditionalcalibration objects. This difference may arise from a selection effect:the PNe in our survey are typically nearby, old nebulae, whereas most ofthe objects that calibrate statistical techniques are low-latitude, highsurface brightness, and more distant nebulae. As a result, thestatistical methods that seem to work well with samples of distant PNe,for example, those in the Galactic bulge or external galaxies, may notbe applicable to the more diverse population of local PNe. Our distancedeterminations could be improved with better knowledge of themetallicities of the individual nebulae and central stars, measurementsof proper motions and radial velocities for additional candidatecompanions, and deeper HST images of several of our new binary nuclei. Catalogue of H-alpha emission stars in the Northern Milky WayThe Catalogue of Stars in the Northern Milky Way Having H-alpha inEmission" appears in Abhandlungen aus der Hamburger Sternwarte, Band XIin the year 1997. It contains 4174 stars, range {32degr <= l() II< 214degr , -10degr < b() II < +10degr } having the Hαline in emission. HBH stars and stars of further 99 lists taken from theliterature till the end of 1994 were included in the catalogue. We givethe cross-identification of stars from all lists used. The catalogue isalso available in the Centre de Données, Strasbourg ftp130.79.128.5 or http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr and at the HamburgObservatory via internet. On The Kinematics of Multiple-Shell Planetary Nebulae. I. Data and Expansion VelocitiesWe present spatially resolved echelle spectroscopy, obtained at highspectral resolution, for 15 multiple-shell planetary nebulae. Mostexhibit faint detached halos (IC 1295, MA 3, M 2-2, M 2-40, NGC 6804,NGC 6826, NGC 6884, NGC 6891, NGC 7662, PM 1-295, and Vy 2-3).Furthermore, we have included some with attached shells (IC 1454, K1-20, K 3-73, and PM 1-276) to allow comparison of the kinematicproperties of the two subclasses of multiple-shell planetary nebulae. Inaddition, some of the nebulae in our sample show a triple-shellstructure, composed of the bright main nebula and a combination of twoattached shells (PB 9), one attached shell and one detached halo (NGC6826, NGC 6891, NGC 7662, and Vy 2-3), or two detached shells (NGC6804). A new method for computing the expansion velocities of thoseshells that do not show line splitting has been developed. This methodassumes a thick-shell model and uses the observed Hα emissionbrightness profile to compute the volume emissivity dependence,ɛ(r), with the distance from the center of the nebula. Theexpansion velocity is then worked out by modeling how much the width ofa the Hα line decreases with the radius of the shell. The radialvelocity, expansion velocities of each shell, and turbulencecontribution to the line width are presented. The expansion velocity ofthe detached halos spans from 12 to 30 km s^-1. It is worth noting thatthe expansion velocities obtained by this method are greater than ifthey were computed with a thin-shell model, as has previously been done.In relation to the attached shells, their expansion velocities span from10 to 30 km s^-1. When the expansion velocities of the outer attachedshells are related to the ellipticity of the inner shells, a trendtoward faster expansion of the outer than the inner shells at higherellipticities is found. The turbulent contribution to the line width hasalso been established. It is smaller for halos (0 km s^-1 <=sigma_tur <= 6 km s^-1) than for attached shells (0 km s^-1 <=sigma_tur <= 15 km s^-1). This suggests that large-scale hydrodynamicprocesses are more important in attached shells than in detached halos.We have also studied the kinematics of the detached halos whosemorphology is perturbed from a round shape to a dipole asymmetry,indicating its interaction with the surrounding interstellar medium. Wefound systematic differences between the kinematical behavior of theenhanced edge of the halo and the opposite side in these cases, thusrevealing the kinematic effect of the interaction of the halos with theinterstellar medium. The kinematics of 867 galactic planetary nebulaeWe present a compilation of radial velocities of 867 galactic planetarynebulae. Almost 900 new measurements are included. Previously publishedkinematical data are compared with the new high-resolution data toassess their accuracies. One of the largest samples in the literatureshows evidence for a systematic velocity offset. We calculate weightedaverages between all available data. Of the final values in thecatalogue, 90% have accuracies better than 20 km s(-1) . We use thiscompilation to derive kinematical parameters of the galacticdifferential rotation obtained from least-square fitting and toestablish the Disk rotation curve; we find no significal trend for thepresence of an increasing external rotation curve. We examine also therotation of the bulge; the derived curve is consistent with a linearlyincreasing rotation velocity with l: we find V_b,r=(9.9+/-1.3)l -(6.7+/-8.5) km s(-1) . A possible steeper gradient in the innermostregion is indicated. Table 2 is available in electronic form only, viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html Planetary Nebulae in the NRAO VLA Sky SurveyThe 1.4 GHz NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) images and source catalog wereused to detect radio emission from the 885 planetary nebulae north ofJ2000 declination delta = -40 deg in the Strasbourg-ESO Catalogue ofGalactic Planetary Nebulae. We identified 680 radio sources brighterthan about S = 2.5 mJy beam-1 (equivalent to T ~ 0.8 K in the 45" FWHMNVSS beam) with planetary nebulae by coincidence with accurate opticalpositions measured from Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) images. Totalextinction coefficients c at lambda = 4861 Angstroms were calculated forthe 429 planetary nebulae with available H beta fluxes and low free-freeoptical depths at 1.4 GHz. The variation of c with Galactic latitude andlongitude is consistent with the extinction being primarily interstellarand not intrinsic. Orientation of planetary nebulae within the GalaxyNarrow-band CCD images of 209 axially symmetrical planetary nebulae(PNe) have been examined in order to determine the orientation of theiraxes within the disc of the Galaxy. The nebulae have been divided intothe bipolar (B) and elliptical (E) PNe morphological types, according tothe scheme of Corradi & Schwarz. In both classes, contrary to theresults of Melnick & Harwit and Phillips we do not find any strongevidence for non-random orientations of the nebulae in the Galaxy.Compared with previous work in this field, the present study takesadvantage of the use of larger and morphologically more homogeneoussamples and offers a more rigorous statistical analysis. A self-consistent determination of distances, physical parameters, and chemical composition for a large sample of galactic planetary nebulae: chemical compositionThe relative abundances of He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Ar arepresented for, respectively, 185, 65, 212, 221, 180, 13, 41, 197, and205 Galactic planetary nebulae. The observed stages of ionization weretaken into account using the relations between the relative abundancesof different ions derived from a grid of photoionization models for thenebular emission. The chemical compositions of all the planetary nebulaewere determined using the same method and the same atomic data, so thatthe results have a high degree of uniformity; this is the first timethis has been done for such a large sample of Galactic planetary nebulae(221 objects). A self-consistent determination of the distances, physical parameters, and chemical composition for a large sample of galactic planetary nebulae: The distances and parameters of central stars and the optical depths of envelopesThe distances and parameters of the central stars and the optical depthsof the envelopes in the Lyman limits of neutral hydrogen and neutralhelium were determined in a self-consistent way for 170 Galacticplanetary nebulae (PNe). The distance to each PN was so chosen that thetheoretically calculated evolutionary age of its nucleus was equal tothe dynamical age of its expanding envelope. The effective temperatureof the central star and its related parameters were determined either bythe generalized energy-balance method or, where appropriate, byZanstra's method. The derived distance estimates lend support to along' distance scale for PNe and are generally in agreement withcurrent individual and statistical estimates of the distances to PNeavailable in the literature. The mean distance to the bulge PNe is 7.9+/- 0.3 kpc, in agreement with the distance to the Galactic center. Themasses of the central stars of PNe corresponding to the deriveddistances are closely correlated with the nebular nitrogen-to-oxygenabundance ratio. Properties That Cannot Be Explained by the Progenitors of Planetary NebulaeI classify a large number of planetary nebulae (458) according to theprocess that caused their progenitors to blow axisymmetrical winds. Theclassification is based primarily on the morphologies of the differentplanetary nebulae, assuming that binary companions, stellar orsubstellar, are necessary in order to have axisymmetrical mass loss onthe asymptotic giant branch. I propose four evolutionary classes,according to the binary-model hypothesis: (1) Progenitors of planetarynebula that did not interact with any companion. These amount to ~10% ofall planetary nebulae. (2) Progenitors that interact with stellarcompanions that avoided a common envelope, 11^{+2}_{-3}% of all nebulae.(3) Progenitors that interact with stellar companions via a commonenvelope phase, 23^{+11}_{-5}% of all nebulae. (4) Progenitors thatinteract with substellar (i.e., planets and brown dwarfs) companions viaa common envelope phase, 56^{+5}_{-8}% of all nebulae. In order todefine and build the different classes, I start with clarifying somerelevant terms and processes related to binary evolution. I then discusskinematical and morphological properties of planetary nebulae thatappear to require the interaction of the planetary nebula progenitorsand/or their winds with companions, stellar or substellar. Planetary nebulae morphologies, central star masses and nebular properties.We have constituted a sample of about 80 PN with defined morphologiesand well observed basic parameters (fluxes, angular radii, expansionvelocities and magnitudes of the central stars). For these PN, we havederived the central star masses by comparing the observed set ofparameters with those predicted by a simple evolutionary model of a PN,expanding at the same velocity as the observed one. We have thenexamined the relations between the PN morphological types and otherproperties, linked to the central star mass. Bipolar PN are shown tohave a wider distribution of central star masses than the rest of PN,and shifted towards higher values. They lie closer to the Galactic planeand tend to have larger N/O ratios. Point symmetric PN, which have notbeen much studied so far, are found to constitute an outstanding class.They show an almost perfect M_*_-v_exp_ correlation. They correspond toa rather short evolutionary stage of PN. They lie, on average, furtherfrom the Galactic plane than bipolar PN and tend to have lower N/O.Globally, PN with higher central star masses are found closer to theGalactic plane, and the observed relation between N/O and M_*_ isroughly consistent with the predictions from evolutionary models for AGBstars. Catalogue of stars in the northern Milky Way having H-alpha in emissionNot Available A search for 5_1-6_0 A^+-methanol masers towards faint IRAS sourcesWe present the results of a search for 6.7-GHz methanol maser emissiontowards 241 colour-selected IRAS sources for which the flux density at60 μm is less than 100 Jy. All the candidate sources meet the Wood& Churchwell criteria for ultracompact HII regions. Five newmethanol maser sources are detected. We also present averagedistributions for the distances of the maser sources perpendicular tothe Galactic plane, the maser luminosities, and the masses of theexciting stars obtained by using a statistical procedure to handle theambiguity of kinematic distances. The mass distributions are used toobtain lower limits for the duration of the masing phase for masersassociated with embedded stars with mass greater than 35 M_solar.
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