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Description
Extragalactic Planetary Nebulae (PNe) are detectable via relatively strong nebulous [OIII] emission, acting as direct probes into the local stellar population. Due to an apparently universal, invariant magnitude cut-off, PNe are also considered to be a remarkable standard candle for distance estimation. Through detecting PNe within the galaxies, we aim to connect the relative abundances of PNe to the properties of their host galaxy stellar population. By removing the stellar background components from FCC 167 and FCC 219, we aim to produce PN Luminosity Functions (PNLF) of those galaxies, and therefore also estimate the distance modulus to those two systems. Finally, we test the reliability and robustness of the our novel detection and analysis method. It detects the presence of unresolved point sources via their [OIII] 5007{AA} emission, within regions previously unexplored. We model the [OIII] emissions in both the spatial and spectral dimensions together, as afforded to us by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) and drawing on data gathered as part of the Fornax3D survey. For each source, we inspect the properties of the nebular emission lines present to remove other sources, that could hinder the safe construction of the PNLF, such as supernova remnants and HII regions. As a further step, we characterise any potential limitations and draw conclusions about the reliability of our modelling approach via a set of simulations. Through the application of this novel detection and modelling approach to IFU observations, we report for both galaxies: distance estimates, luminosity specific PNe frequency values. Furthermore, we include an overview into source contamination, galaxy differences and how they may affect the PNe populations in the dense stellar environments.
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