Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21725607h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #256.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We have obtained spectrophotometric observations of 41 anticenter planetary nebulae (PNe) located in the disk of the Milky Way. Oxygen abundance results of these objects plus those in our pre-existing database yield a sample of 124 PNe with which to study the oxygen abundance gradient in the disk of the Galaxy between 0.9 and 21 kpc in galactocentric distance. Accounting for both abundance and distance uncertainties, we find an oxygen gradient of -0.058±0.006 dex/kpc. We see some evidence that the gradient may steepen at large galactocentric distances but no compelling evidence that the gradient differs between Peimbert Types I and II nor that the oxygen abundance is related to the vertical distance from the Galactic plane. A second analysis using PN distances from Stanghellini et al. (ApJ, 689, 194, 2008) implies 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. RBCH, KK, and BB gratefully acknowledge support from NSF Grants AST-0806577, AST-0806490, and AST-0880201, respectively.
Balick Bruce
Henry Richard B. C.
Jaskot Anne E.
Kwitter Karen B.
Milingo Jacquelynne Brenda
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