R. C. Henry

On the Cosmic Origins of Carbon and Nitrogen

The behaviour of C/O and N/O ratios as a function of metallicity in HII regions in galaxies is characterised, and used to derive rough values of chemical yields from analytic models. These ‘analytic yields’ are used to select the best available numerical yields from published stellar nucleosynthesis calculations. This gives a reasonably coherent picture of the important production sites of carbon and nitrogen, with carbon coming from massive stars and nitrogen from intermediate mass stars. The effects of gas inflow and stellar nucleosynthesis time-delay on element ratios C/O and N/O are expected to be small, but may be detectable for N/O. The small dispersion in values of N/O observed in low-metallicity blue compact dwarf galaxies may indicate that these systems have fairly long-lived quiescent star formation. Brief consideration of the CNO cycles suggests that the most recent values for the 17O(p,α)14N cross-section are certainly better than older values.

ABUNDANCES OF GALACTIC ANTICENTER PLANETARY NEBULAE AND THE OXYGEN ABUNDANCE GRADIENT IN THE GALACTIC DISK

We have obtained spectrophotometric observations of 41 anticenter planetary nebulae (PNe) located in the disk of the Milky Way. Electron temperatures and densities, as well as chemical abundances for He, N, O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar were determined. Incorporating these results into our existing database of PN abundances yielded a sample of 124 well-observed objects with homogeneously determined abundances extending from 0.9 to 21 kpc in galactocentric distance. We performed a detailed regression analysis which accounted for uncertainties in both oxygen abundances and radial distances in order to establish the metallicity gradient across the disk to be 12 + log(O/H) = (9.09 ± 0.05) – (0.058 ± 0.006) × Rg , with Rg in kpc. While we see some evidence that the gradient steepens at large galactocentric distances, more objects toward the anticenter need to be observed in order to confidently establish the true form of the metallicity gradient. We find no compelling evidence that the gradient differs between Peimbert Types I and II, nor is oxygen abundance related to the vertical distance from the galactic plane. Our gradient agrees well with analogous results for H II regions but is steeper than the one recently published by Stanghellini & Haywood over a similar range in galactocentric distance. A second analysis using PN distances from a different source implied a flatter gradient, and we suggest that we have reached a confusion limit which can only be resolved with greatly improved distance measurements and an understanding of the natural scatter in oxygen abundances.

The UCSD HIRES/Keck I Damped Lyα Abundance Database. IV. Probing Galactic Enrichment Histories with Nitrogen*

We present 14 N^0 measurements from our HIRES/Keck database of damped Lya abundances. These data are combined with measurements from the recent and past literature to build an homogeneous, uniform set of observations. We examine photoionization diagnostics like Fe^++ and Ar^0 in the majority of the complete sample and assess the impact of ionization corrections on N/alpha and alpha/H values derived from observed ionic column densities of N^0, Si^+, H^0, and S^+. Our final sample of 19 N/alpha, alpha/H pairs appears bimodal; the majority of systems show N/alpha values consistent with metal-poor emission regions in the local universe but a small sub-sample exhibit significantly lower N/alpha ratios. Contrary to previous studies of N/alpha in the damped systems, our sample shows little scatter within each sub-sample. We consider various scenarios to explain the presence of the low N/alpha sightlines and account for the apparent bimodality. We favor a model where at least some galaxies undergo an initial burst of star formation with suppressed formation of intermediate-mass stars. We found a power-law IMF with slope 0.10 or a mass cut of ~5-8 Msolar would successfully reproduce the observed LN-DLA values. If the bimodal distribution is confirmed by a larger sample of measurements, this may present the first observational evidence for a top heavy initial mass function in some early stellar populations.

Sulfur, Chlorine, and Argon in Planetary Nebulae. I. Observations and Abundances in a Northern Sample

This paper is the first of a series specifically studying the abundances of sulfur, chlorine, and argon in type II planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Galactic disk. Ratios of S/O, Cl/O, and Ar/O constitute important tests of differential nucleosynthesis of these elements and serve as strict constraints on massive star yield predictions. We present new ground-based optical spectra extending from 3600-9600 A for a sample of 19 type II northern PNe. This range includes the strong near-infrared lines of [S III] λλ9069,9532, which allows us to test extensively their effectiveness as sulfur abundance indicators. We also introduce a new, model-tested ionization correction factor for sulfur. For the present sample, we find average values of S/O = 1.2 × 10-2 ± 0.71 × 10-2, Cl/O = 3.3 × 10-4 ± 1.6 × 10-4, and Ar/O = 5.0 × 10-3 ± 1.9 × 10-3.

Lyman-Alpha Absorption and the D/H Ratio in the Local Interstellar Medium

Using the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we have observed Lyα absorption against stellar chromospheres along six lines of sight, with additional observations of the Mg II H and K lines along five of the lines of sight and Fe II absorption along four of the lines of sight. We found absorption near the projected velocity of the local interstellar cloud (LIC) along three lines of sight. The velocity toward the stars β Gem and σ Gem was only marginally consistent with the LIC. The single interstellar component toward 31 Com had a velocity that was inconsistent with the projected LIC velocity. Three of the lines of sight showed a multicomponent velocity structure. For the star Eri we required an additional hot, low-density component which we have interpreted as a stellar hydrogen wall. The LIC temperatures derived from our data range from 7800 to 9700 K with values of the microturbulence parameter less than 2.0 km s-1. The measured D/H ratio for the LIC along every sight line is consistent with a value of 1.6 × 10-5, the best determined value being the β Cas line of sight with D/H = 1.7 ± 0.3 × 10-5.

Hopkins ultraviolet telescope observations of the far-ultraviolet spectrum of NGC 4151

Observations of the FUV spectrum of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 from 912 to 1860 A during the flight of Astro-1 aboard the space shuttle Columbia in December 1990 are reported. Broad emission lines with full-width at half-maximum of about 8500 km/s dominate the spectrum. Numerous absorption features modify the continuum shape, particularly at wavelengths shortward of Ly-alpha. The continuum turns over sharply below 1000 A and disappears by 924 A, well above the redshifted Lyman edge of NGC 4151 at 915 A. The absorption lines have intrinsic widths of about 1000 km/s and are blueshifted relative to the system velocity of NGC 4151 by 200-1300 km/s. Absorption of the continuum by the converging higher-order Lyman lines explains the sharp turnover of the continuum below 1000 A. The blueshifts of the absorption lines, their large intrinsic widths, and the inferred high densities are all consistent with outflowing material originating in the broad-line region.

X-ray Pulsar in the Crab Nebula

X-ray pulsations have been observed in the Crab Nebula at a frequency closely matching the radio and optical pulsations. About 5 percent of the total x-ray power of the nebula appears in the pulsed component. The x-ray pulsations have the form of a main pulse and an interpulse separated by about 12 milliseconds.

Ultraviolet observations of cool stars. VII - Local interstellar hydrogen and deuterium Lyman-alpha

High-resolution Copernicus spectra of Epsilon Eri and Epsilon Ind containing interstellar hydrogen and deuterium L-alpha absorption lines are presented, reduced, and analyzed. Parameters of the interstellar hydrogen and deuterium toward these two stars are derived independently, without any assumptions concerning the D/H ratio. Copernicus spectra of Alpha Aur and Alpha Cen A are reanalyzed, and limits on the D/H number-density ratio consistent with the data for all four stars are considered. A comparison of the present estimates for the parameters of the local interstellar medium with those obtained by other techniques shows that there is no compelling evidence for significant variations in the hydrogen density and D/H ratio in the local interstellar medium. On this basis the hypothesis of an approaching local interstellar cloud proposed by Vidal-Madjar et al. (1978) is rejected

A New Look at Carbon Abundances in Planetary Nebulae. IV. Implications for Stellar Nucleosynthesis

This paper is the fourth and final report on a project designed to study carbon abundances in a sample of planetary nebulae representing a broad range in progenitor mass and metallicity. We present newly acquired optical spectrophotometric data for three Galactic planetary nebulae, IC 418, NGC 2392, and NGC 3242, and combine them with UV data from the IUE Final Archive for identical positions in each nebula to determine accurate abundances of He, C, N, O, and Ne at one or more locations in each object. We then collect abundances of these elements for the entire sample and compare them with theoretical predictions of planetary nebula abundances from a grid of intermediate-mass star models. We find some consistency between observations and theory, lending modest support to our current understanding of nucleosynthesis in stars below 8 M☉ in birth mass. Overall, we believe that observed abundances agree with theoretical predictions to well within an order of magnitude but probably not better than to within a factor of 2 or 3. However, even this level of consistency between observation and theory enhances the validity of published intermediate-mass stellar yields of carbon and nitrogen in the study of the abundance evolution of these elements.

Morphology and composition of the helix nebula

We present new narrowband filter imagery in Hα and [N II] λ6584, along with UV and optical spectrophotometry measurements from 1200 to 9600 A of NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula, a nearby, photogenic planetary nebula of large diameter and low surface brightness. Detailed models of the observable ionized nebula support the recent claim that the Helix is actually a flattened disk whose thickness is roughly one-third its diameter, with an inner region containing hot, highly ionized gas that is generally invisible in narrowband images. The outer visible ring structure is of lower ionization and temperature and is brighter because of a thickening in the disk. We also confirm a central star effective temperature and luminosity of 120,000 K and 100 L☉, and we estimate a lower limit to the nebular mass to be 0.30 M☉. Abundance measurements indicate the following values: He/H=0.12 (± 0.017), O/H=4.60×10-4 (± 0.18), C/O=0.87 (± 0.12), N/O=0.54 (± 0.14), Ne/O=0.33 (± 0.04), S/O=3.22 × 10-3 (± 0.26), and Ar/O=6.74 × 10-3 (± 0.76). Our carbon abundance measurements represent the first of their kind for the Helix Nebula. The S/O ratio that we derive is anomalously low; such values are found in only a few other planetary nebulae. The central star properties, the supersolar values of He/H and N/O, and a solar level of C/O are consistent with a 6.5 M☉ progenitor that underwent three phases of dredge-up and hot bottom burning before forming the planetary nebula.