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Oxygen abundances in the most oxygen-rich spiral galaxies |
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| Authors: | Leonid S Pilyugin Trinh X Thuan José M Vílchez |
| Institution: | Main Astronomical Observatory of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 27 Zabolotnogo str., 03680 Kiev, Ukraine;Astronomy Department, University of Virginia, PO Box 3818, University Station, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA;Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Apdo 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain |
| Abstract: | Oxygen abundances in the spiral galaxies expected to be richest in oxygen are estimated. The new abundance determinations are based on the recently discovered ff relation between auroral and nebular oxygen-line fluxes in high-metallicity H ii regions. We find that the maximum gas-phase oxygen abundance in the central regions of spiral galaxies is 12+log(O/H) ～ 8.75. This value is significantly lower (by a factor of ?5) than the previously accepted value. The central oxygen abundance in the Milky Way is similar to that in other large spirals. |
| Keywords: | ISM: abundances H ii regions galaxies: abundances |