Mapping the Life and Legacy of Dying Stars: How Planetary Nebulae Reveal the Milky Way’s Chemistry

N. Erzincan and colleagues analyzed 1,449 planetary nebulae to explore how dying stars shape the Milky Way’s chemistry. Using spectra from the HASH database and Gaia distances, they measured temperatures, densities, and elemental abundances. Disk nebulae were richer in heavy elements than those in the halo, and sulfur and nitrogen showed a strong correlation, revealing links between stellar evolution and Galactic chemical enrichment.