Comprehensive modelling of the planetary nebula LMC-SMP 61 and its [WC]-type central star^*

¹ LUTH, Observatoire de Meudon, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon Cedex, France
² Institut für Physik, Astrophysik, Universität Potsdam, Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam, Germany e-mail: goetz@astro.physik.uni-potsdam.de
³ Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM, Apdo. Postal 70 264, México D.F., 04510, México e-mail: miriam@astroscu.unam.mx
⁴ Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 681, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA e-mail: lars@winds.gsfc.nasa.gov
⁵ N. Copernicus Astronomical Center, Rabiańska 8, 87–100 Toruń, Poland e-mail: szczerba@ncac.torun.pl

Corresponding author: G. Stasińska, grazyna.stasinska@obspm.fr

Received: 11 July 2003
Accepted: 18 September 2003

Abstract

We present a comprehensive study of the Magellanic Cloud planetary nebula SMP 61 and of its nucleus, a Wolf-Rayet type star classified [WC 5-6]. The observational material consists of HST STIS spectroscopy and imaging, together with optical and UV spectroscopic data collected from the literature and infrared fluxes measured by IRAS. We have performed a detailed spectral analysis of the central star, using the Potsdam code for expanding atmospheres in non-LTE. For the central star we determine the following parameters:  = ,  = ,  = ,  = ,  = , and a clumping factor of D = 4. The elemental abundances by mass are X_He = 0.45, X_C = 0.52, , X_O = 0.03, and  . The fluxes from the model stellar atmosphere were used to compute photoionization models of the nebula. All the available observations, within their error bars, were used to constrain these models. We find that the ionizing fluxes predicted by the stellar model are consistent with the fluxes needed by the photoionization model to reproduce the nebular emission, within the error margins. However, there are indications that the stellar model overestimates the number and hardness of Lyman continuum photons. The photoionization models imply a clumped density structure of the nebular material. The observed C iii]  C ii  line ratio implies the existence of carbon-rich clumps in the nebula. Such clumps are likely produced by stellar wind ejecta, possibly mixed with the nebular material. We discuss our results with regard to the stellar and nebular post-AGB evolution. The observed Fe-deficiency for the central star indicates that the material which is now visible on the stellar surface has been exposed to s-process nucleosynthesis during previous thermal pulses. The absence of nitrogen allows us to set an upper limit to the remaining H-envelope mass after a possible AGB final thermal pulse. Finally, we infer from the total amount of carbon detected in the nebula that the strong [WC] mass-loss may have been active only for a limited period during the post-AGB evolution.