Speaker
Description
Planetary nebulae (PNe) are post-AGB shells around stars from main sequence progenitors of 1- 8 solar masses. PNe typically emit a strong emission line of [OIII]5007, making them observable in distant galaxies. Narrow band [OIII]5007 photometry of galaxies has been used to identify the PN candidates within and construct the corresponding planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF). With the photometric and spectroscopic capabilities of the MUSE instrument at the VLT, we have measured PNLF distances up to 40 Mpc; twice the distance accessible to the classical narrow-band technique. To measure the distances, the method relies on the absolute magnitude of the bright-end cutoff of the PNLF (M). In the spirit of measuring the Hubble Constant using the PNLF of early-type galaxies (ETGs), it is crucial to identify possible systematics that might affect the distance measurements; the underlying stellar population is one of them. To address this, we analyzed the correlation between the stellar population (age, [M/H], [a/Fe]) and the M in five ETGs. We also investigated the progenitor population of the observed PNe. I will explain the methodology, key findings, and the remaining open questions for future studies.