arXiv subjects

R. D. D. Costa

Publications and source records attributed to R. D. D. Costa.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2004

A comparison of the time variation of radial abundance gradients from planetary nebulae and open clusters

The temporal behaviour of the radial abundance gradients has important consequences on models for the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. We present a comparison of the time variation of the abundance gradients in the Milky Way disk as determined from a sample of planetary nebulae and open clusters. We conclude that the [Fe/H] gradients as measured in open cluster stars strongly support the time flattening of the abundance gradient as recently determined from O/H measurements in planetary nebulae. We estimate the average flattening rate in the time interval 10 Myr < t < 5 Gyr as roughly 0.005 dex kpc-1 Gyr-1.

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arXiv2003

New abundances of planetary nebulae in the Galactic Bulge

New observations and derived chemical abundances are reported for a sample of 57 bulge planetary nebulae (PN). Together with our previous results, a total of over a hundred objects have been analyzed, which constitute one of the largest samples of bulge nebulae studied under homogeneous conditions, including equipment and reduction procedures. In general, our data show a good agreement with some recent results in the literature, in the sense that the average abundances of bulge PN are similar to those from disk objects, however showing a larger dispersion.

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arXiv2002

An estimate of the time variation of the O/H radial gradient from planetary nebulae

Radial abundance gradients are a common feature of spiral galaxies, and in the case of the Galaxy both the magnitude of the gradients and their variations are among the most important constraints of chemical evolution models. Planetary nebulae (PN) are particularly interesting objects to study the gradients and their variations. Owing to their bright emission spectra, they can be observed even at large galactocentric distances, and the derived abundances are relatively accurate, with uncertainties of about 0.1 to 0.2 dex, particularly for the elements that are not synthesized in their progenitor stars. On the other hand, as the offspring of intermediate mass stars, with main sequence masses in the interval of 1 to 8 solar masses, they are representative of objects with a reasonable age span. In this paper, we present an estimate of the time variation of the O/H radial gradient in a sample containing over 200 nebulae with accurate abundances. Our results are consistent with a flattening of the O/H gradient roughly from -0.11 dex/kpc to -0.06 dex/kpc during the last 9 Gyr, or from -0.08 dex/kpc to -0.06 dex/kpc during the last 5 Gyr.

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arXiv2001

PN and galactic chemical evolution

Recent applications of PN to the study of galactic chemical evolution are reviewed, such as PN and stellar populations, abundance gradients, including their space and time variations, determination of the He/H radial gradient and of the helium-to-metals enrichment ratio, and the [O/Fe] x [Fe/H] relation in the solar neighbourhood and in the galactic bulge.

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arXiv2001

Abundances of Recently Discovered Planetary Nebulae Towards the Galactic Bulge

In this work we report spectrophotometric observations of a planetary nebula sample towards the galactic bulge. A total of 45 PNe was observed and their physical parameters (electron density and temperature) were derived. Ionic abundances were calculated using a three-level atom model and abundances were derived through ionisation correction factors. Results show low abundance objects at high galactic latitudes, indicating a possible vertical gradient inside the bulge. A few objects with low N/O ratio were found, which could originated from old, low mass progenitors.

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