Further exploration of Galactic disk abundance gradients

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S283) ◽  
pp. 438-439
Author(s):  
Jackie B. Milingo ◽  
Richard B. C. Henry ◽  
Karen B. Kwitter ◽  
Bruce Balick

AbstractWe examine the abundance gradient in the Milky Way disk via homogeneously determined data for 124 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe). We present recent results from a detailed regression analysis of the O gradient. With O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar available and a range of galactocentric distance (Rg) from 0.9 to 21 kpc, we present additional exploration of the disk radial gradient by statistically analyzing a series of short segments of increasing average Rg.

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (3) ◽  
pp. 2726-2742 ◽  
Author(s):  
J E Méndez-Delgado ◽  
C Esteban ◽  
J García-Rojas ◽  
K Z Arellano-Córdova ◽  
M Valerdi

ABSTRACT We determine the radial abundance gradient of helium in the disc of the Galaxy from published spectra of 19 H ii regions and ring nebulae surrounding massive O-type stars. We revise the Galactocentric distances of the objects considering Gaia DR2 parallaxes (Gaia Collaboration 2018) and determine the physical conditions and the ionic abundance of He+ in a homogeneous way, using between 3 and 10 He i recombination lines in each object. We estimate the total He abundance of the nebulae and its radial abundance gradient using four different ionization correction factor (ICF; He) schemes. The slope of the gradient is always negative and weakly dependent on the ICF(He) scheme, especially when only the objects with log(η) < 0.9 are considered. The slope values go from −0.0078 to −0.0044 dex kpc−1, consistent with the predictions of chemical evolution models of the Milky Way and chemodynamical simulations of disc galaxies. Finally, we estimate the abundance deviations of He, O, and N in a sample of ring nebulae around Galactic Wolf–Rayet stars, finding a quite similar He overabundance of about +0.24 ± 0.11 dex in three stellar ejecta ring nebulae.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (S323) ◽  
pp. 264-268
Author(s):  
Bruce Balick ◽  
Karen Kwitter ◽  
Romano Corradi ◽  
Rebeca Galera Rosillo ◽  
Richard Henry

AbstractThe planetary nebulae (PNe) of M 31 are receiving considerable attention as probes of its structure and chemical evolution in a galactic environment that is putatively similar to the Milky Way. We have obtained deep spectra for about 30 luminous PNe in M 31’s inner disk and beyond (Rgal < 105 kpc). The entire ensemble of PNe exhibit O/H ~ 2/3 solar with no discernible radial gradient, in stark contrast to the H ii regions of M 31. This suggests that the outer PNe in M 31 formed from a common O-rich ISM at least 5 GY ago. We infer that the outer PNe and the underlying stellar population have little common history in M 31, and that the formation of the O-rich PNe preceded any putative encounter with M 33 ~2–3 Gy ago.


Author(s):  
F La Barbera ◽  
A Vazdekis ◽  
I Ferreras ◽  
A Pasquali

Abstract Using new, homogeneous, long-slit spectroscopy in the wavelength range from ∼0.35 to $\sim 1 \, \mu$m, we study radial gradients of optical and near-infrared (NIR) IMF-sensitive features along the major axis of the bulge of M31, out to a galactocentric distance of ∼200 arcsec (∼800 pc). Based on state-of-the-art stellar population synthesis models with varying Na abundance ratio, we fit a number of spectral indices, from different chemical species (including TiO’s, Ca, and Na indices), to constrain the low-mass (≲ 0.5 M⊙) end slope (i.e. the fraction of low-mass stars) of the stellar IMF, as a function of galactocentric distance. Outside a radial distance of ∼10”, we infer an IMF similar to a Milky-Way-like distribution, while at small galactocentric distances, an IMF radial gradient is detected, with a mildly bottom-heavy IMF in the few inner arcsec. We are able to fit Na features (both NaD and $\rm NaI8190$), without requiring extremely high Na abundance ratios. $\rm [Na/Fe]$ is ∼0.4 dex for most of the bulge, rising up to ∼0.6 dex in the innermost radial bins. Our results imply an overall, luminosity-weighted, IMF and mass-to-light ratio for the M31 bulge, consistent with those for a Milky-Way-like distribution, in contrast to results obtained, in general, for most massive early-type galaxies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S298) ◽  
pp. 304-309
Author(s):  
J.L. Hou ◽  
L. Chen ◽  
J.C. Yu ◽  
J. Sellwood ◽  
C. Pryor

AbstractIn this paper, we present our recent work on the evolution of abundance gradients along the Milky Way disk based on the Geneva Copenhagen Survey (GCS) and Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) data. We will also discuss the role of the LAMOST Milky Way disk survey in clarifying the properties of metallicity breaks observed through open clusters and young tracers along the Milky Way disk. It is believed that the Galactic disk forms inside-out, in which the stellar population at increasing radii is younger and more metal poor. This picture is consistent with most Galactic Chemical Evolution (GCE) models which also predict a tight correlation between the metallicity and age of stars at a given radius. However, it is only a result of “steady state" and no dynamical evolution effects were taken into account. We have selected two stellar samples from GCS and RAVE, each sample contains about 10,000 local thin-disk, main-sequence stars. We use the guiding radius which is determined by the conservation of z-direction angular momentum, to eliminate the blurring effects. And also use the effective temperature of the main sequence stars as a proxy of stellar age. It is shown that the metallicity gradient flattens as the age increases. This is not consistent with our previous GCE prediction, but can be explained by radial mixing effects. In order to further demonstrate the abundance breaks observed in the Galactic disk we have proposed, and have been carrying out, an open cluster survey project based on LAMOST. We plan to observe at least 400 open clusters in the northern Galactic sky. From the observations, we will get uniform parameters for those clusters with radial velocity and metallicities. We anticipate that this uniform open cluster sample could clarify the observed abundance break around the Milky Way disk corotation radius and also give a more robust result concerning the evolution of the abundance gradient.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 790-790
Author(s):  
Roberto D.D. Costa ◽  
Walter J. Maciel

AbstractAbundance gradients are key parameters to constrain the chemical evolution of the galactic disk. In this review recent determinations for the radial gradient are described, including its slope as derived from different objects such as planetary nebulae, HII regions, cepheids, or B stars, and for different elements. Inner and outer limits for the radial gradient, as well as its time evolution, both related to the chemical evolution of the Galaxy, are also described. The possible existence of azimuthal and vertical gradients is also discussed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 724 (1) ◽  
pp. 748-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. C. Henry ◽  
Karen B. Kwitter ◽  
Anne E. Jaskot ◽  
Bruce Balick ◽  
Michael A. Morrison ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S289) ◽  
pp. 375-378
Author(s):  
Roberto D. D. Costa ◽  
Oscar Cavichia ◽  
Walter J. Maciel

AbstractIn this paper, a sample of planetary nebulae in the Galaxy's inner-disk and bulge is used to find the galactocentric distance that optimally separates these two populations in terms of their abundances. Statistical distance scales were used to investigate the distribution of abundances across the disk–bulge interface, while a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to find the distance at which the chemical properties of these regions separate optimally. The statistical analysis indicates that, on average, the inner population is characterized by lower abundances than the outer component. Additionally, for the α-element abundances, the inner population does not follow the disk's radial gradient toward the Galactic Center. Based on our results, we suggest a bulge–disk interface at 1.5 kpc, marking the transition between the bulge and the inner disk of the Galaxy as defined by the intermediate-mass population.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 50-50
Author(s):  
Daisuke Toyouchi ◽  
Masashi Chiba

AbstractWe investigate the structure and dynamics of the Milky Way (MW) disk stars based on the analysis of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) data, to infer the past evolution histories of the MW disk component(s) possibly affected by radial migration and/or satellite accretions. APOGEE is the first near-infrared spectroscopic survey for a large number of the MW disk stars, providing their radial velocities and chemical abundances without significant dust extinction effects. We here adopt red-clump (RC) stars (Bovy et al. 2014), for which the distances from the Sun are determined precisely, and analyze their radial velocities and chemical abundances in the MW disk regions covering from the Galactocentric distance, R, of 5 kpc to 14 kpc. We investigate their dynamical properties, such as mean rotational velocities, 〈Vφ〉 and velocity dispersions, as a function of R, based on the MCMC Bayesian method. We find that at all radii, the dynamics of alpha-poor stars, which are candidates of young disk stars, is much different from that of alpha-rich stars, which are candidates of old disk stars. We find that our Jeans analysis for our sample stars reveals characteristic spatial and dynamical properties of the MW disk, which are generally in agreement with the recent independent work by Bovy et al. (2015) but with a different method from ours.


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. P. Kronberg ◽  
K. J. Newton-McGee

AbstractWe apply a new, expanded compilation of extragalactic source Faraday rotation measures (RM) to investigate the broad underlying magnetic structure of the Galactic disk at latitudes ∣b∣ ≲15° over all longitudes l, where our total number of RMs is comparable to those in the combined Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS) at ∣b∣ < 4° and the Southern Galactic Plane (SGPS) ∣b∣<1.5°. We report newly revealed, remarkably coherent patterns of RM at ∣b∣≲15° from l∼270° to ∼90° and RM(l) features of unprecedented clarity that replicate in l with opposite sign on opposite sides of the Galactic center. They confirm a highly patterned bisymmetric field structure toward the inner disc, an axisymmetic pattern toward the outer disc, and a very close coupling between the CGPS/SGPS RMs at ∣b∣≲3° (‘mid-plane’) and our new RMs up to ∣b∣∼15° (‘near-plane’). Our analysis also shows the vertical height of the coherent component of the disc field above the Galactic disc's mid-plane—to be ∼1.5 kpc out to ∼6 kpc from the Sun. This identifies the approximate height of a transition layer to the halo field structure. We find no RM sign change across the plane within ∣b∣∼15° in any longitude range. The prevailing disc field pattern and its striking degree of large-scale ordering confirm that our side of the Milky Way has a very organized underlying magnetic structure, for which the inward spiral pitch angle is 5.5°±1° at all ∣b∣ up to ∼12° in the inner semicircle of Galactic longitudes. It decreases to ∼0° toward the anticentre.


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