Statistics – Applications
Scientific paper
Dec 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998aas...193.7008k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 193rd AAS Meeting, #70.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 30, p.1354
Statistics
Applications
1
Scientific paper
The advent of 8--10m class telescopes makes it possible to measure the chemical properties in the ionized gas in high-redshift galaxies using the same techniques that are applied to HII regions in nearby galaxies. We show that spatially integrated emission-line spectra can provide a reliable measurement of the mean metal abundances of distant star-forming galaxies. Our analysis is based on a set of spatially-resolved spectra of metal-poor galaxies with measured electron temperatures (from [OIII]lambda 4363), published HII region spectra of metal-rich galaxies with internal abundance gradients, and integrated spectra for a subset of these objects. We used these data to synthesize integrated emission-line ratios for the galaxies and study the effects of spatial averaging on the excitation properties and metal abundances inferred from the global spectra. For massive metal-rich galaxies, well-established empirical calibrations based on strong-line ratios provide reliable measures (+/-0.2 dex) of the mean oxygen abundance for spectra with S/N >= 8 in the diagnostic emission lines. More accurate abundances can be derived when [OIII]lambda 4363 is detected by applying small corrections (Delta (O/H) = 0.1 dex) for systematic effects which are introduced by spatial variations in electron temperature and ionization parameter. We provide prescriptions for deriving oxygen abundances from the global emission-line spectra of high-redshift galaxies, and assess the main sources of systematic error in these applications.
Kennicutt Robert C.
Kobulnicky Henry A.
Pizagno James L.
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