Galactic planetary nebulae and evolution of their nuclei

The galactic system of planetary nebulae is investigated using previously constructed distance scale and kinematics data. A strong effect of observational selection is established, which has the consequence that with increasing distance, ever brighter and younger objects are observed. More accurate determinations of the spatial and surface densities of the planetary nebulae system are obtained as well as a new estimate of their total number in the Galaxy, which is approximately 200,000. New estimates are also made of the masses of the nebulae, the absolute magnitudes of the nebulae and their nuclei, and other physical parameters of these objects. The spatial and kinematic characteristics of the planetary nebulae indicate that they are objects of the old type I population. It is possible that their remote ancestors are main sequence stars of the type B8-A5-F or as yet unidentified objects of the same galactic subsystem