arXiv subjects

W. J. Maciel

Publications and source records attributed to W. J. Maciel.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Elemental abundances in the center of the Galactic Nuclear Disc

We have made the first attempt to derive the chemical properties of the Galactic disc at its very central part using high-resolution infrared spectroscopic observations of four classical Cepheids. Those stars are located at Galactocentric distances smaller than 1 kpc. All investigated stars show near-to-solar elemental abundances. By combining these new data with our previous studies, this result suggests that the radial distribution of iron abundance on a logarithmic scale gradually increases from the outskirts of the Galactic disc to Galactocentric distances of about 2-4 kpc, reaching there a maximal value of about +0.4 dex, and then declines sharply to about the solar value at the Galactic Center.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

The case of NGC 6302: The impact of shocks in the derivation of Nitrogen abundances

High nitrogen abundance is characteristic of Type I planetary nebulae as well as their highly filamentary structure. In the present work we test the hypothesis of shocks as a relevant excitation mechanism for a Type-I nebula, NGC 6302, using recently released diagnostic diagrams to distinguish shocks from photoexcitation. The construction of diagrams depends on emission line ratios and kinematical information. NGC 6302 shows the relevance of shocks in peripheral regions and the importance to the whole nebula. Using shocks, we question the usual assumption of ICF calculation, justifying a warning to broadly used abundance derivation methods. From a kinematical analysis, we derive a new distance for NGC 6302 of $805\pm143\,$ pc.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Galactic radial abundance gradients: cepheids and photoionized nebulae

Radial abundance gradients are observed in the Galaxy and other galaxies as well, and include several chemical elements in different stellar systems. Possibly the most accurate gradients in the Galaxy are those determined from chepheid variable stars. These objects have very accurate abundances for many elements and are generally considered as standard candles, so that their galactocentric distances are very well determined. These stars are relatively young, with ages between the main types of photoionized nebulae, namely the younger HII regions and the older planetary nebulae. In this paper we consider the O/H and Fe/H gradients based on a large sample of galactic cepheids, and compare the results with recent determinations from photoionized nebulae.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

The time evolution of the Milky Way's oxygen abundance gradient

We study the evolution of oxygen abundance radial gradients as a function of time for the Milky Way Galaxy obtained with our {\sc Mulchem} chemical evolution model. We review the recent data of abundances for different objects observed in our Galactic disc. We analyse with our models the role of the growth of the stellar disc, as well as the effect of infall rate and star formation prescriptions, or the pre-enrichment of the infall gas, on the time evolution of the oxygen abundance radial distribution. We compute the radial gradient of abundances within the {\sl disk}, and its corresponding evolution, taking into account the disk growth along time. We compare our predictions with the data compilation, showing a good agreement. Our models predict a very smooth evolution when the radial gradient is measured within the optical disc with a slight flattening of the gradient from $\sim -0.057$\,dex\,kpc$^{-1}$ at $z=4$ until values around $\sim -0.015$\,dex\,kpc$^{-1}$ at $z=1$ and basically the same gradient until the present, with small differences between models. Moreover, some models show a steepening at the last times, from $z=1$ until $z=0$ in agreement with data which give a variation of the gradient in a range from $-0.02$ to $-0.04$\,de\,kpc$^{-1}$ from $t=10$\,Gyr until now. The gradient measured as a function of the normalized radius $R/R_{\rm eff}$ is in good agreement with findings by CALIFA and MUSE, and its evolution with redshift falls within the error bars of cosmological simulations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Mass Loss Rates of Li-rich AGB/RGB Stars

A sample of AGB/RGB stars with an excess of Li abundances is considered in order to estimate their mass loss rates. Our method is based on a correlation between the Li abundances and the stellar luminosity, using a modified version of Reimers formula. We have adopted a calibration on the basis of an empirical correlation between the mass loss rate and some stellar parameters. We conclude that most Li-rich stars have lower mass loss rates compared with the majority of AGB/RGB stars, which show no evidences of Li enhancements, so that the Li enrichment process is apparently not associated with an increased mass loss rate.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Abundances in photoionized nebulae of the Local Group and nucleosynthesis of intermediate mass stars

Photoionized nebulae, comprising HII regions and planetary nebulae, are excellent laboratories to investigate the nucleosynthesis and chemical evolution of several elements in the Galaxy and other galaxies of the Local Group. Our purpose in this investigation is threefold: (i) compare the abundances of HII regions and planetary nebulae in each system in order to investigate the differences derived from the age and origin of these objects, (ii) compare the chemical evolution in different systems, such as the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, and other galaxies of the Local Group, and (iii) investigate to what extent the nucleosynthesis contributions from the progenitor stars affect the observed abundances in planetary nebulae, which constrains the nucleosynthesis of intermediate mass stars. We show that all objects in the samples present similar trends concerning distance-independent correlations, and some constraints can be defined on the production of He and N by the PN progenitor stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

The population of planetary nebulae near the Galactic centre: chemical abundances

Planetary nebulae (PNe) constitute an important tool to study the chemical evolution of the Milky Way and other galaxies, probing the nucleosynthesis processes, abundance gradients and the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium. In particular, Galactic bulge PNe (GBPNe) have been extensively used in the literature to study the chemical properties of this Galactic structure. However, the presently available GBPNe chemical composition studies are strongly biased, since they were focused on brighter objects, predominantly located in Galactic regions of low interstellar reddening. In this work, we report physical parameters and abundances derived for a sample of 17 high extinction PNe located in the inner 2\degr of the Galactic bulge, based on low dispersion spectroscopy secured at the SOAR telescope using the Goodman spectrograph. The new data allow us to extend our database including faint objects, providing chemical compositions for PNe located in this region of the bulge and an estimation for the masses of their progenitors to explore the chemical enrichment history of the central region of the Galactic bulge. The results show that there is an enhancement in the N/O abundance ratio in the Galactic centre PNe compared with PNe located in the outer regions of the Galactic bulge. This may indicate recent episodes of star formation occurring near the Galactic centre.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2016

Chemical abundances of photoionized nebulae in the Local Group

Photoionized nebulae comprise basically HII regions and planetary nebulae, and their abundances give important clues on the nucleosynthesis and chemical evolution of their host galaxies. There is presently a large amount of data on these objects, especially for the elements He and N, which are strongly affected by the evolution of intermediate mass stars, as well as O, Ne, S, and Ar, which are essentially synthesized in stars with larger masses. The abundances of these elements in several systems in the Local Group are discussed on the basis of distance-independent correlations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Improving the determination of chemical abundances in planetary nebulae

Planetary nebulae are the products of the evolution of low and intermediate mass stars. The chemical property studies of these objects give important information about the elemental abundances as He, O, Ne, Ar, S and their modifications associated with the evolution of the progenitor stars. The determination of accurate abundances in planetary nebulae is important from the perspective of the stellar evolution as well as the formation and chemical evolution of galaxies. Recently, new HeI emissivities and ionization correction factors (ICFs) were published in the literature. In this work, these new parameters are used in a code for the determination of chemical abundances in photoionized nebulae. This code is used for the recompilation of the chemical abundances of planetary nebulae from the Galactic bulge observed previously by our group and also for the determination of new chemical abundances of a sample of planetary nebulae located near the Galactic centre. The new emissivities and ICFs slightly modified the elemental abundances of He, N, O, Ar and Ne. On the other hand, S abundances are higher than previous determinations. The new ICFs can contribute to solve partially the sulphur anomaly.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2016

The evolution of the radial gradient of Oxygen abundance in spiral galaxies

The aim of this work is to present our new series of chemical evolution models computed for spiral and low mass galaxies of different total masses and star formation efficiencies. We analyze the results of models, in particular the evolution of the radial gradient of oxygen abundance. Furthermore, we study the role of the infall rate and of the star formation history on the variations of this radial gradient. The relations between the O/H radial gradient and other spiral galaxies characteristics as the size or the stellar mass are also shown. We find that the radial gradient is mainly a scale effect which basically does not change with the redshift (or time) if it is measured within the optical radius. Moreover, when it is measured as a function of a normalized radius, show a similar value for all galaxies masses, showing a correlation with a dispersion around an average value which is due to the differences star formation efficiencies, in agreement with the idea of an universal O/H radial gradient

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

The evolution of the Oxygen abundance radial gradient in the Milky Way Galaxy disk

We review the state of our chemical evolution models for spiral and low mass galaxies. We analyze the consequences of using different stellar yields, infall rate laws and star formation prescriptions in the time/redshift evolution of the radial distributions of abundances, and other quantities as star formation rate or gas densities, in the Milky Way Galaxy; In particular we will study the evolution of the Oxygen abundance radial gradient analyzing its relation with the ratio SFR/infall. We also compare the results with our old chemical evolution models, cosmological simulations and with the existing data, mainly with the planetary nebulae abundances.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Li-rich AGB/RGB stars: Lithium abundances and mass loss

Most metal-rich AGB/RGB stars present strong Li underabundances, since this element is easily destroyed in the high temperatures of the stellar interiors. In spite of this fact, several of these stars are Li-rich, having Li abundances given by log (Li/H) + 12 > 1.5. In the present work, we extend our previous investigation on AGB/RGB stars to the expected mass loss rates of these stars. Specifically, we look for correlations between the Li abundances and the mass loss rates or related parameters in Li-rich AGB/RGB stars. We have estimated the mass loss rates using a modified form of the Reimers formula and applied it to a large sample of 104 Li-rich giant stars for which reliable stellar data are available. Our proposed method assumes a linear relation between the stellar luminosity and the Li abundance, so that the luminosity can be estimated from the Li abundance. The stellar mass is then obtained from the effective temperature and luminosity using recent evolutionary tracks. The stellar radius can be determined from the stellar gravity, so that the mass loss rate can be calculated using an adequate calibration involving both Li-rich and Li-poor stars in the AGB/RGB branches. The results show that most Li-rich stars have lower mass loss rates compared with C-rich or O-rich giants that do not present Li enhancements.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Radial abundance gradients from planetary nebulae at different distances from the galactic plane

We investigate the variations of the radial O/H abundance gradients from planetary nebulae (PN) located at different distances from the galactic plane. In particular, we determine the abundance gradients at different heights from the plane in order to investigate a possible gradient inversion for the objects at larger distances from the plane. We consider a large sample of PN with known distances, so that the height relative to the galactic plane can be derived, and accurate abundances, so that the gradients can be determined.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Oxygen abundance distribution in Galactic disc

We have performed a NLTE analysis of the infrared oxygen triplet for a large number of cepheid spectra obtained with the Hobby-Eberly telescope. These data were combined with our previous NLTE results for the stars observed with Max Planck Gesellschaft telescope with the aim to investigate oxygen abundance distribution in Galactic thin disc. We find the slope of the radial (O/H) gradient value to be equal -0.058 dex/kpc. Nevertheless, we found that there could be a hint that the distribution might become flatter in the outer parts of the disc. This is also supported by other authors who studied open clusters, planetary nebulae and H II regions. Some mechanisms of flattening are discussed.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

The role of the Galactic bar in the chemical evolution of the Milky Way

In the absence of an interaction, central bars might be the most effective mechanism for radial motions of gas in barred spiral galaxies, which represent two-thirds of disc galaxies. The dynamical effects induced by bars in the first few kpc of discs might play an important role in the disc profiles in this region. In this work, a chemical evolution model with radial gas flows is proposed in order to mimic the effects of the Milky Way bar in the bulge and inner disc. The model is an update of a chemical evolution model with the inclusion of radial gas flows in the disc and bulge. The exchange of gas between the cylindrical concentric regions that form the Galaxy is modelled considering the flows of gas from and to the adjacent cylindrical regions. The most recent data for the bulge metallicity distribution are reproduced by means of a single and longer bulge collapse time-scale (2 Gyr) than other chemical evolution models predict. The model is able to reproduce the peak in the present star formation rate at 4 kpc and the formation of the molecular gas ring. The model with a bar predicts a flattening of the oxygen radial gradient of the disc. Additionally, models with radial gas flows predict a higher star formation rate during the formation of the bulge. This is in agreement with the most recent observations of the star formation rate at the centre of massive barred spiral galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Time variation of the O/H radial gradient in the galactic disk based on planetary nebulae

The controversy on the time variation of the radial abundance gradients can in principle be settled by estimating the gradients from planetary nebulae (PN) ejected by central stars (CSPN) with different ages. In this work, we consider four samples of CSPN whose lifetimes have been estimated using three different methods and estimate the oxygen abundance gradients for these objects. The results suggest some small differences between the younger and older CSPN. The younger objects have similar or slightly higher oxygen abundances compared with the older objects, and the gradients of both groups are similar within the uncertainties. Therefore, the O/H radial gradient has not changed appreciably during the lifetime of the objects considered, so that PN gradients are not expected to be very different from the gradients observed in younger objects, which seems to be supported by recent observational data.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

Barium Abundances in Cepheids

We derived the barium atmospheric abundances for a large sample of Cepheids, comprising 270 stars. The sample covers a large range of galactocentric distances, from about 4 to 15 kpc, so that it is appropriated to investigate the existence of radial barium abundance gradients in the galactic disc. In fact, this is the first time that such a comprehensive analysis of the distribution of barium abundances in the galactic disc is carried out. As a result, we conclude that the Ba abundance distribution can be characterized by a zero gradient. This result is compared with derived gradients for other elements, and some reasons are briefly discussed for the independence of the barium abundances upon galactocentric distances.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2011

Planetary nebulae and the chemical evolution of the galactic bulge: new abundances of older objects

In view of their nature, planetary nebulae have very short lifetimes, and the chemical abundances derived so far have a natural bias favoring younger objects. In this work, we report physical parameters and abundances for a sample of old PNe located in the galactic bulge, based on low dispersion spectroscopy secured at the SOAR telescope using the Goodman Spectrograph. The new data allow us to extend our database including older, weaker objects that are at the faint end of the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF). The results show that the abundances of our sample are lower than those from our previous work. Additionally, the average abundances of the galactic bulge do not follow the observed trend of the radial abundance gradient in the disk. These results are in agreement with a chemical evolution model for the Galaxy recently developed by our group.

astro-ph.GA↗