Galactic Archeology of Planetary Nebulae

Planetary nebulae (PNe) are envelopes of gas and dust that are ejected by stars that are 1-8 solar masses near the end of their lives. There are heavier elements present within these lower mass stars which are not readily synthesized. These elements show insight into the environment in which the progenitor star was formed. Here we present analysis of the elemental abundance of oxygen in 10 PNe using Nebular Empirical Analysis Tool (NEAT) and PyNeb. The data used in our analysis were obtained by the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope in Chile. Funding for this project is supported by 2022 NASA Kentucky Space Grant Consortium Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU-22-042).