Planetary Nebulae as Mass Tracers in Galaxies

Abstract

Planetary nebula are useful kinematic tracers of the stars in all galaxy types. I review recent observationally-driven developments in the study of galaxy mass profiles. These have yielded surprising results on spiral galaxy disk masses and elliptical galaxy halo masses. A key remaining question is the coupling between PNe and the underlying stellar populations.

8 pages, 4 figs, invited review to appear in Proc. IAU Symp. 234, Planetary Nebulae in Our Galaxy and Beyond (3-7 Apr 2006), eds. M.J. Barlow & R.H. Mendez (Cambridge Univ. Press)

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