Morpho-kinematic studies of selected Galactic planetary nebulae using integral-field spectroscopy

In this thesis, work has been carried out to investigate the morphology, structure, density, ionisation as well as the kinematics of selected Galactic planetary nebulae using mainly the integral-field spectroscopy (IFS) technique but supplemented in one case with multi-object fibre spectroscopy (MOS). Here 3-D data cubes have been generated using IFS astronomical data collected by the PhD thesis supervisor during previous observations with ground-based telescopes in Australia for several key Planetary Nebulae. Two are the iconic PNe IC418 and NGC7293 (the Helix) and a special large bipolar PN BMP1654-5406 that has been shown by our group to be a bona-fide member of a Galactic Open Cluster. These data have been used exclusively in this research and are presented here for the first time. Such multidimensional data has been processed, analysed, and visualized using the relevant and Python-based data science tools; some such tools are “bespoke” and have been developed by the PhD candidate with the help of mentors from various open-source organizations. The IFS technique offered us a glimpse of the more detailed workings of these 3 planetary nebulae in a systematic and efficient manner, that is not available if one opted for more traditional long-slit spectroscopy. This also enables point top point examination of variability of the line ratio diagnostics, enabling us to obtain broader insights into the physical conditions of these planetary nebulae in a more efficient and representative way. When integrated over all the relevant spaxels, the 3-D data cubes have yielded some deep spectra for further interpretation to be made regarding more accurate chemical abundances.