Metal-rich Planetary Nebulae in the Outer Reaches of M31

Balick, B.; Kwitter, K. B.; Corradi, R. L. M.; Henry, R. B. C.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 774, Issue 1, article id. 3, 10 pp. (2013).

Advertised on:
9
2013
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
28
Refereed citations
20
Description
Spectroscopic data of two relatively [O III]-luminous planetary nebulae (PNe) have been obtained with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias. M174 and M2496 are each ~1° from the center of M31 along opposite sides of its minor axis. The ensemble of these 2 distant PNe plus 16 similarly luminous outer-disk PNe published previously by Kwitter et al. forms a homogeneous group in luminosity, metal content, progenitor mass, age, and kinematics. The main factual findings of our work are (1) O/H (and other low-mass α elements and their ratios to O) is uniformly solar-like in all 18 PNe (lang12 + log(O/H)rang = 8.62 ± 0.14); (2) the general sky distribution and kinematics of the ensemble much more closely resemble the rotation pattern of the classical disk of M31 than its halo or bulge; (3) the O/H gradient is surprisingly flat beyond Rg ~ 20 kpc. The PNe are too metal-rich to be bona fide members of M31's disk or halo, and (4) the abundance patterns of the sample are distinct from those in the spiral galaxies M33, M81, and NGC 300. Using standard PN age diagnostic methods, we suggest that all of the PNe formed ~2 Gyr ago in a starburst of metal-rich interstellar medium that followed an M31-M33 encounter about 3 Gyr ago. We review supporting evidence from stellar studies. Other more prosaic explanations, such as dwarf galaxy assimilation, are unlikely.
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