Issue |
A&A
Volume 452, Number 2, June III 2006
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 473 - 480 | |
Section | Extragalactic astronomy | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20054592 | |
Published online | 22 May 2006 |
Abundance segregation in Virgo spiral galaxies
Laboratório de Análise Numérica e Astrofísica, Departamento de Matemática, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97119-900 Santa Maria, RS, Brazil e-mail: oli@lana.ccne.ufsm.br
Received:
25
November
2005
Accepted:
27
February
2006
Aims.To derive
O/H, N/O, and S/O abundances of regions located in nine Virgo spiral
galaxies, as well as to verify what is the cause of the
abundance segregation found.
Methods.We employed photoionization models to reproduce observed emission-line
intensities of regions located in the galaxies considered. The abundance gradients obtained were interpreted using a grid of chemical evolution models.
Results.Our models indicate that galaxies near to the core of the Virgo cluster are overabundant in O/H, N/O, and S/O by about 0.25 dex in comparison to the ones at the periphery.
With one exception, models with upper stellar mass limit of Mu = 30–40
and age of the ionizing star cluster ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 Myr were able to reproduce the observational data. Chemical models indicate the
collapse time-scale for inner regions of galaxies near to the Virgo core
is larger than the one in galaxies located at the intermediate and peripheral
positions in the cluster, what can be due to
the dense environment existing in Virgo Cluster core.
Key words: galaxies: abundances / galaxies: evolution / ISM: abundances / ISM: HII regions
© ESO, 2006
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