On the chlorine abundance in H II regions

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Main Authors: Orte-García, Maialen, Esteban, César, Méndez-Delgado, José Eduardo, García-Rojas, Jorge
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Orte-García, Maialen
Esteban, César
Méndez-Delgado, José Eduardo
García-Rojas, Jorge
author_facet Orte-García, Maialen
Esteban, César
Méndez-Delgado, José Eduardo
García-Rojas, Jorge
contents Chlorine (Cl) is a chemical element of the group of the halogens and is between the 17th and the 20th most abundant elements in the Solar System. It is thought to be produced from the capture of a proton or neutron by specific alpha-element isotopes during both hydrostatic and explosive oxygen burning, though some contribution may come from Type Ia supernovae. Cl lines are quite rare in stellar spectra, so most of the information available about its abundance comes from analyzing the emission lines of ionized nebulae, especially the collisionally excited lines of Cl2+ ([Cl III] λλ5518,5538). Our goal is to accurately determine the Cl abundance in H II regions, and gather more information about its nucleosynthetic origin. For this work we used a sample of observations that encompasses the deepest spectra of H II regions available in the literature, from both the Milky Way and other galaxies in the local Universe, covering a range of oxygen (O) abundances, 12+log(O/H), from 7.18 to 8.70. As a first step, we determine the most representative electron temperature of the zone of the nebulae where the Cl2+ ion lies. To this aim we used a grid of photoionization models and diagnostics valid for other ions, as that parameter cannot be determined directly through [Cl III] lines. We then computed the total Cl abundance using different sets of ionization correction factors to account for the contribution from unseen ionization stages.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_18673
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the chlorine abundance in H II regions
Orte-García, Maialen
Esteban, César
Méndez-Delgado, José Eduardo
García-Rojas, Jorge
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Chlorine (Cl) is a chemical element of the group of the halogens and is between the 17th and the 20th most abundant elements in the Solar System. It is thought to be produced from the capture of a proton or neutron by specific alpha-element isotopes during both hydrostatic and explosive oxygen burning, though some contribution may come from Type Ia supernovae. Cl lines are quite rare in stellar spectra, so most of the information available about its abundance comes from analyzing the emission lines of ionized nebulae, especially the collisionally excited lines of Cl2+ ([Cl III] λλ5518,5538). Our goal is to accurately determine the Cl abundance in H II regions, and gather more information about its nucleosynthetic origin. For this work we used a sample of observations that encompasses the deepest spectra of H II regions available in the literature, from both the Milky Way and other galaxies in the local Universe, covering a range of oxygen (O) abundances, 12+log(O/H), from 7.18 to 8.70. As a first step, we determine the most representative electron temperature of the zone of the nebulae where the Cl2+ ion lies. To this aim we used a grid of photoionization models and diagnostics valid for other ions, as that parameter cannot be determined directly through [Cl III] lines. We then computed the total Cl abundance using different sets of ionization correction factors to account for the contribution from unseen ionization stages.
title On the chlorine abundance in H II regions
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.18673