I recently tasked myself with a project: using the publicly available data of the Helix Nebula from the SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper to measure emission lines. This is something I ahve done many times before, but I have never had the wealth of data that comes with a SDSS observation. I also wanted to see if I could apply the direct, electron temperature method to some data for the first time and write a brief tutorial for other folks. Here, I’ll discuss some of the science behind these methods and what we can learn from this data about the Helix Nebula itself.
