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Manuel Peimbert

Publications and source records attributed to Manuel Peimbert.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2011

Solar origins: Place and Chemical Composition

We discuss a chemical evolution model with Z-dependent yields that reproduces the O/H, C/H, and C/O gradients of the Galactic disk and the chemical history of the solar vicinity. The model fits the H, He, C, and O abundances derived from recombination lines of the HII region M17 (including the fraction of C and O atoms embedded in dust); the protosolar H, He, C, O, and Fe abundances; and the C/O-O/H, C/Fe-Fe/H, and O/Fe-Fe/H relations derived from stars of the solar vicinity. The agreement of the model with the protosolar abundances at the Sun-formation time implies that the Sun originated from a well mixed ISM at a galactocentric distance of 7.6 $\pm$ 0.8 kpc.

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arXiv2011

HII Regions And the Protosolar Helium, Carbon, and Oxygen Abundances in the Context of Galactic Chemical Evolution

We present chemical evolution models of the Galactic disk with different Z-dependent yields. We find that a moderate mass loss rate for massive stars of solar metallicity produces an excellent fit to the observed C/H and C/O gradients of the Galactic disk. The best model also fits: the H, He, C, and O abundances derived from recombination lines of M17, the protosolar abundances,and the C/O-O/H, C/Fe-Fe/H, and O/Fe-Fe/H relations derived from solar vicinity stars. The agreement of the model with the protosolar abundances implies that the Sun originated at a galactocentric distance similar to the one it has. Our model for $r=3$ kpc implies that a fraction of the stars in the direction of the bulge formed in the inner disc. We obtain a good agreement between our model and the C/O versus O/H relationship derived from extragalactic H~{\sc ii} regions in spiral galaxies.

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arXiv2010

On the O/H, Mg/H, Si/H and Fe/H Gas and Dust Abundance Ratios in Galactic and Extragalactic H II Regions

We derive the Mg/H ratio in the Orion nebula and in 30 Doradus. We also derive the O/H and the Fe/O ratios in the extremely metal poor galaxy SBS 0335-052. We estimate the dust depletions of Mg, Si, and Fe in Galactic and extragalactic H II regions. Based on these depletions we estimate the fraction of O atoms embedded in dust as a function of the O/H ratio. We find an increasing depletion of O with increasing O/H. The O depletion increases from about 0.08 dex, for the metal poorest H II regions known, to about 0.12 dex, for metal rich H II regions. This depletion has to be considered when comparing nebular with stellar abundances.

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arXiv2008

The Primordial Helium Abundance

I present a brief review on the determination of the primordial helium abundance by unit mass, Yp. I discuss the importance of the primordial helium abundance in: (a) cosmology, (b) testing the standard big bang nucleosynthesis, (c) studying the physical conditions in H II regions, (d) providing the initial conditions for stellar evolution models, and (e) testing the galactic chemical evolution models.

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arXiv2008

The Helium and Heavy Elements Enrichment of the Galactic Disk

We present chemical evolution models for the Galactic disk. We also present a new determination of X, Y, and Z for M17 a Galactic metal-rich Hii region. We compare our models for the Galactic disk with the Galactic Hii regions abundances. The $ΔY/ΔO$ ratio predicted from the galactic chemical evolution model is in very good agreement with the $ΔY/ΔO$ value derived from M17 and the primordial helium abundance, Yp, taking into account the presence of temperature variations in this Hii region. From the M17 observations we obtain that $ΔY/ΔZ = 1.97 \pm 0.41$, in excellent agreement with two $ΔY/ΔZ$ determinations derived from K dwarf stars of the solar vicinity that amount to $2.1 \pm 0.4$ and $2.1 \pm 0.9$ respectively. We also compare our models with the solar abundances. The solar and Orion nebula O/H values are in good agreement with our chemical evolution model.

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arXiv2006

Temperature Variations and Chemical Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

In this review we present a brief discussion on the observational evidence in favor of the presence of temperature variations, and conclude that many planetary nebulae show spatial temperature variations that are larger than those predicted by 1D static chemically homogeneous photoionization models. To determine accurate chemical abundances it is necessary to know the cause of these temperature variations and several possibilities are discussed. The importance of this problem is paramount to test the models of stellar evolution of low and intermediate mass stars and of the chemical evolution of galaxies. We conclude that the proper abundances for chemically homogeneous PNe are those derived from recombination lines, while for the two-abundance nebular model the proper heavy element abundances relative to hydrogen are those derived from visual and UV collisionally excited lines adopting the t2 values derived from Te([OIII]) and Te(Balmer)

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arXiv2006

Chemical and Photometric Evolution of the Local Group Galaxy NGC 6822 in a Cosmological Context

Based on the photometric properties of NGC 6822 we derive a robust star formation history. Adopting this history we compute 15 models of galactic chemical evolution. All of them match present-day photometric properties. The dark halo mass in all models evolves according to the mass assembly history predicted by a $Λ$CDM cosmology. We model the evolution of the baryonic mass aggregation history in this cosmological context assuming that part of the gas available for accretion never falls into the system due to two different physical processes. For seven models we assume that during accretion the universal baryon fraction is reduced by reionization only. The best model of this first group, a complex model with an early outflow, fits the observed gaseous mass, and the O/H, C/O, and Fe/O present-day values. This model requires a lower upper mass limit for the IMF than that of the solar vicinity, in agreement with recent results by other authors. We have also computed eight models where, in addition to reionization, the accreted baryon fraction is reduced by large-scale shock heating.The best model of this series, that also requires and early outflow and a lower upper mass limit for the IMF,can marginally fit the gaseous mass and the O/H and C/O observed values.

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arXiv2005

Oxygen Recombination Line Abundances in Gaseous Nebulae

The determination of the heavy element abundances from giant extragalactic H II regions has been generally based on collisionally excited lines. We will discuss the reasons to study the characteristics of recombination lines, and then use these lines to determine chemical abundances. Of these lines the oxygen (specifically the O II) lines are the most important; and, of them, the lines of multiplet 1 of O II are the most accessible. It has often been assumed that by measuring the intensity of a single line within a multiplet the intensities of all the lines in the multiplet can be determined; in recent studies we have found that the intensity ratios of lines within a multiplet can depend on density; we will present empirical density-intensity relationships for multiplet 1 based on recent observations of H II regions and planetary nebulae. From observations deof H II regions we find that the critical density for collisional redistribution of the multiplet 1 O II recombination lines amounts to 2800 +- 500 cm-3. We point out that the O/H recombination abundances of H II regions in the solar vicinity are in excellent agreement with the O/H solar value, while the abundances derived from collisionally excited lines are not. We present a calibration of Pagel's method in the 8.2 < 12 + log O/H < 8.8 range based on O recombination lines.

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arXiv2005

Chemical Composition of Two H II Regions in NGC 6822 Based on VLT Spectroscopy

We present long slit spectrophotometry of regions V and X of the local group irregular galaxy NGC 6822. The data consist of VLT FORS observations in the 3450 to 7500 A range. We have obtained electron temperatures and densities using different line intensity ratios. We have derived the He, C, and O abundances relative to H based on recombination lines, the abundance ratios among these elements are almost independent of the temperature structure of the nebulae. We have also determined the N, O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar abundances based on collisionally excited lines, the ratios of these abundances relative to that of H depend strongly on the temperature structure of the nebulae. The chemical composition of NGC 6822 V is compared with those of the Sun, the Orion nebula, NGC 346 in the SMC, and 30 Doradus in the LMC. The O/H value derived from recombination lines is in good agreement with the value derived by Venn et al. (2001) from two A type supergiants in NGC 6822.

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arXiv2002

Seven problems related to the determination of the primordial helium abundance

Recent advances on the quest to determine the primordial or pregalactic helium abundance, Yp, are reviewed. There are seven problems affecting the He/H abundance determinations of H II regions that are briefly discussed: the underlying absorption lines in the observed spectra, the ionization, temperature, and density structures of each object, the collisional contribution to the intensity of the He I and H I lines, the optical thickness of the He I lines, and the extrapolation to derive Yp based on the Y and O/H values.

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arXiv2002

Chemical Abundances of Extragalactic H II regions

The determination of the heavy element abundances from giant extragalactic H II regions is based on collisionally excited lines. We argue that in the presence of temperature variations the abundances determined are lower limits to the real heavy element abundances. To determine the real abundances it is necessary to take into account the temperature variations present in these nebulae. We discuss the relevance of obtaining accurate line intensities of recombination lines of H, He, C, and O to determine the chemical composition of extragalactic H II regions. We suggest that Pagel's method to derive the O/H ratio should be calibrated by using recombination lines instead of photoionization models or abundances derived from collisionally excited lines.

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arXiv2001

Temperature Bias and the Primordial Helium Abundance Determination

We study the effect that the temperature structure has on the determination of the primordial helium abundance, Yp. We provide an equation linking T(OIII), the temperature derived from the [OIII] lines, and T(HeII), the temperature of the He I lines, both for HII regions with O++ only and for HII regions where a fraction of O+ is present. By means of T(HeII), which is always smaller than T(OIII), we derive the helium abundances of 5 objects with low and very low metallicity (NGC 346, NGC 2363, Haro29, SBS 0335-052, and I Zw 18); these objects were selected from the literature because they include the 3 low metallicity objects with the best line determinations and the 2 objects with the lowest metallicity. From these abundances we obtain that Yp(nHc)=0.2356+-0.0020, a value 0.0088 lower than that derived by using T(OIII). We call this determination Yp(nHc) because the collisional contribution to the Balmer line intensities has not been taken into account. All the recent Yp determinations in the literature have not taken into account the collisional contribution to the Balmer line intensities. By considering the collisional contribution to the Balmer line intensities of these five objects we derive that Yp(+Hc)=0.2384+-0.0025.

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arXiv2001

Temperature Structure and Chemical Abundances in Gaseous Nebulae

In this summary I review some results relative to: planetary nebulae, H II regions, chemical evolution of galaxies, and the determination of the primordial helium abundance. These results were presented during the symposium "Ionized Gaseous Nebulae" which took place in Mexico City, Nov, 2000. To get a more general perspective of this meeting I encourage you to read all the contributions to the symposium proceedings.

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arXiv2000

The Chemical Composition of the Small Magellanic Cloud H II Region NGC 346 and the Primordial Helium Abundance

Spectrophotometry in the 3400-7400 range is presented for 13 areas of the brightest H II region in the SMC: NGC 346. The observations were obtained at CTIO with the 4-m telescope. Based on these observations its chemical composition is derived. The helium and oxygen abundances by mass are given by: Y(SMC)=0.2405+-0.0018 and O(SMC)=0.00171+-0.00025. From models and observations of irregular and blue compact galaxies it is found that dY/dO=3.5+-0.9 and consequently that the primordial helium abundance by mass is given by: Yp=0.2345+-0.0026 (1-sigma). This result is compared with values derived from Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and with other determinations of Yp.

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arXiv1998

Some Implications of Galactic Abundance Gradients Derived from H II Regions and Planetary Nebulae

By comparing observed abundance gradients with those predicted by a chemodynamical model of the Galaxy the following results are obtained: there is a defficiency of O/H poor PNe in the solar vicinity which implies that only a fraction of intermediate mass stars produce PNe, a similar result is obtained from the observed abundance distributions of Ne/H, S/H and Ar/H; the age distributions of the stellar progenitors of type II and type III PNe show a substantial overlap, but the average age of the progenitors of type III PNe is larger than that of the progenitors of type II PNe; the S/H and the Ar/H gradients of type I PNe and H II regions are similar, the flatter O/H gradient of type I PNe relative to that of H II regions is probably to the effect of temperature fluctuations on the abundance determinations; the similarity of the abundance gradients derived from H II regions, and PNe imply that transient phenomena are not important in shaping the present day H II gradients.

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