DEPENDENCE OF NEBULAR HEAVY-ELEMENT ABUNDANCE ON H I CONTENT FOR SPIRAL GALAXIES

Journal Article · Sat Aug 10 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/773/1/4· OSTI ID:22140313

Robertson, Paul; Shields, Gregory A.; Wright, Audrey ^[1]; Dave, Romeel ^[2]

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1. Department of Astronomy, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 (United States)
2. Astronomy Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

We analyze the galactic H I content and nebular log (O/H) for 60 spiral galaxies in the Moustakas et al. (2006a) spectral catalog. After correcting for the mass-metallicity relationship, we show that the spirals in cluster environments show a positive correlation for log (O/H) on DEF, the galactic H I deficiency parameter, extending the results of previous analyses of the Virgo and Pegasus I clusters. Additionally, we show for the first time that galaxies in the field obey a similar dependence. The observed relationship between H I deficiency and galactic metallicity resembles similar trends shown by cosmological simulations of galaxy formation including inflows and outflows. These results indicate the previously observed metallicity-DEF correlation has a more universal interpretation than simply a cluster's effects on its member galaxies. Rather, we observe in all environments the stochastic effects of metal-poor infall as minor mergers and accretion help to build giant spirals.

• OSTI ID: 22140313
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 773; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
CATALOGS
CORRELATIONS
ELEMENT ABUNDANCE
GALAXIES
MASS
METALS
NEBULAE
SIMULATION
SPIRAL CONFIGURATION
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES