Poster abstract details

We describe a Herschel OT1 program to obtain 100-500 micron photometry for a statistical, flux-limited (in the IRAS 60 micron band) sample of Galactic bulge planetary nebulae (GBPNe), using PACS and SPIRE. The Galactic Bulge volume, offers a unique, nearby environment where a statistical population of PNe, all at roughly the same well-established distance, can be studied in order to understand these objects, test theoretical models for their formation and evolution, and address the mystery of the constancy of the PN luminosity function (an important cosmological distance indicator). Much of the mass ejected during the preceding AGB phase is expected to lie outside the ionised shells in these objects, and can only be detected via the thermal emission from cold dust. The proposed observations are a critical component of a broader study comprising existing and future ground- and space-based observations that will produce a combination of nebular masses, mass-loss rates, luminosities, physical sizes, morphologies, radial velocities, ages, and chemical abundances for a statistical sample of planetary nebulae, resulting in a unique dataset describing the final stages of stellar evolution in unprecedented detail.

Data have just begun to be obtained, and we will describe our efforts to build and model the full SEDs of observed GBPNe, and derive nebular masses and mass-loss rates.