Nebular abundance gradient in the Cartwheel galaxy using MUSE data

Abstract

ABSTRACT We here present the results from a detailed analysis of nebular abundances of commonly observed ions in the collisional ring galaxy Cartwheel using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) data set. The analysis includes 221 H ii regions in the star-forming ring, in addition to 40 relatively fainter H α-emitting regions in the spokes, disc, and the inner ring. The ionic abundances of He, N, O, and Fe are obtained using the direct method (DM) for 9, 20, 20, and 17 ring H ii regions, respectively, where the S++ temperature-sensitive line is detected. For the rest of the regions, including all the nebulae between the inner and the outer ring, we obtained O abundances using the strong-line method (SLM). The ring regions have a median $12+\log \rm {\frac{O}{H}}$ = 8.19 ± 0.15, $\log \rm {\frac{N}{O}} = -$1.57 ± 0.09 and $\log \rm {\frac{Fe}{O}} = -$2.24 ± 0.09 using the DM. Within the range of O abundances seen in the Cartwheel, the N/O and Fe/O values decrease proportionately with increasing O, suggesting local enrichment of O without corresponding enrichment of primary N and Fe. The O abundances of the disc H ii regions obtained using the SLM show a well-defined radial gradient. The mean O abundance of the ring H ii regions is lower by ∼0.1 dex as compared to the extrapolation of the radial gradient. The observed trends suggest the preservation of the pre-collisional abundance gradient, displacement of most of the processed elements to the ring, as predicted by the recent simulation by Renaud et al., and post-collisional infall of metal-poor gas in the ring.