FAST Search for Circumstellar Atomic Hydrogen. IV. Bubbles Associated with Planetary Nebulae

Abstract Investigating the bubbles generated by the interaction between asymptotic giant branch stellar outflows and the interstellar medium (ISM) is pivotal for elucidating the mechanism by which evolved low- to intermediate-mass stars enrich the ISM with heavy elements. Using archival data sets from the Galactic Plane Pulsar Snapshot survey and the Galactic Arecibo L -Band Array H i survey, we have identified 14 bubbles within interstellar atomic hydrogen (H i ) maps, each showing evidence of potential association with planetary nebulae (PNe). We pursue two primary objectives centered on the identified ISM bubbles and their association with PNe. First, leveraging the calibrated distance measurements of PNe from Gaia Data Release 3, we utilize these ISM bubbles as observational tracers to investigate and constrain the Galactic rotation curve. Second, we note that distance determinations for some PNe remain unreliable, partly because their central stars are obscured by extended nebular envelopes or are misidentified. Therefore, we develop a novel methodological framework to derive kinematic distances for PNe by leveraging the velocities of their associated ISM bubbles and constraints from the Galactic rotation curve.