Chemical Abundances of Planetary Nebulae in the Bulge and Disk of M31

Details Chemical Abundances of Planetary Nebulae in the Bulge and Disk of M31 Chemical Abundances of Planetary Nebulae in the Bulge and Disk of M31

1998-12-09

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9812165v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

30 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for ApJ, April 10, 1999

Scientific paper

10.1086/307024

We derive abundances and central star parameters for 15 planetary nebulae (PNe) in M31: 12 in the bulge and 3 in a disk field 14 kpc from the nucleus. No single abundance value characterizes the bulge stars: although the median abundances of the sample are similar to those seen for PNe in the LMC, the distribution of abundances is several times broader, spanning over 1 decade. None of the PNe in our sample approach the super metal-rich ([Fe/H] ~ +0.25) expectations for the bulge of M31, although a few PNe in the sample of Stasinska, Richer, & Mc~Call (1998) come close. This [O/H] vs [Fe/H] discrepancy is likely due to a combination of factors, including an inability of metal-rich stars to produce bright PNe, a luminosity selection effect, and an abundance gradient in the bulge of M31. We show that PNe that are near the bright limit of the [OIII] 5007 planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF) span nearly a decade in oxygen abundance, and thus, support the use of the PNLF for deriving distances to galaxies (Jacoby 1996) with differing metallicities. We also identify a correlation between central star mass and PN dust formation that partially alleviates any dependence of the PNLF maximum magnitude on population age. Additionally, we identify a spatially compact group of 5 PNe having unusually high O/H; this subgroup may arise from a recent merger, but velocity information is needed to assess the true nature of the objects.

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