Abundance Gradient from Open Clusters and Implications for the Galactic Disk Evolution

1 INTRODUCTIONRadial abundance gradient along the Galactic disk constitutes one of the most importantobservational constraillts fOr models of the evolution of the Galactic disk. The existence of sucha gradient is now well established, through radio and optical observations of HII regions, diskstars, pIanetary nebulae (see Henry and Worthey 1999 for a detailed review) and open clusters(Friel 1995, 1999). An average gradiellt of dlog(X/H)/dR ~ --0.06 dex kpc--' is observed inthe Milky …

Abundance Gradient from Open Clusters and Implications for the Galactic Disk Evolution

We compile a new sample of 89 open clusters with ages, distances and metallicities available. We derive a radial iron gradient of about -0.099±0.008dex kpc-1(urweighted) for the whole sample, which is somewhat greater than the most recent determination of oxygen gradient from nebulae and young stars. By dividing the clusters into age groups, we show that the iron gradient was steeper in the past and has evolved slowly in time. Current data show a substantial scatter of the cluster metallicities indicating that the Galactic disk has undergone a very rapid, inhomogeneous enrichment. Also, based on a simple, but quite successful model of chemical evolution of the Milky Way disk, we make a detailed calculation of the iron abundance gradient and its time evolution. The predicted current iron gradient is about -0.072 dex kpc-1. The model also predicts a steady flattening of the iron gradient with time, which agrees with the result from our open cluster sample.