A New Population of Planetary Nebulae Discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We report discovery of ∼600 planetary nebulae (PNe) in the central 25 sq. degree region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Candidates were found on a multi‐exposure Hα and short red (SR) combined UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) map. Confirmatory 2dF fibre spectroscopy on the Anglo‐Australian Telescope (AAT) has almost tripled the number of PNe in the LMC central bar region. This new population will have important implications for the PN luminosity function and will provide improved kinematics, refined abundance gradients and a better picture of chemical evolution.