2004ApJS..150..431P

Echelle spectrophotometry of the planetary nebula NGC 5315 is presented. The data consist of VLT UVES observations in the 3100-10450 Å range. The intensities of 556 emission lines have been measured, including 508 identified permitted lines of H⁰, He⁰, C⁰, C⁺, N⁰, N⁺, N⁺⁺, O⁰, O⁺, Ne⁰, Ne⁺, Mg⁺, Si⁺, S⁰, S⁺, S⁺⁺, and Ar⁺. Electron temperatures and densities have been determined using many different line intensity ratios. The He⁺, C⁺⁺, N⁺⁺, O⁺⁺, and Ne⁺⁺ ionic abundances have been derived from recombination lines; these abundances are almost independent of the temperature structure of the nebula. Alternatively, abundances from collisionally excited lines have been derived for a large number of ions of different elements; these abundances depend strongly on the temperature structure. Accurate t² values have been derived from the He I lines, and by comparing the O⁺⁺ ionic abundances obtained from collisionally excited and recombination lines. The similarity between the widths and radial velocities of the O II and the [O III] lines rules out the presence of chemical abundance inhomogeneities in this object. The chemical composition of NGC 5315 is compared with those of the Orion nebula and the Sun.