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The Sulfur Abundance Anomaly in Planetary Nebulae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2006

R. B. C. Henry
Affiliation:
H.L. Dodge Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 USA email: [email protected], [email protected]
J. N. Skinner
Affiliation:
H.L. Dodge Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 USA email: [email protected], [email protected]
K. B. Kwitter
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267 USA, email: [email protected]
J. B. Milingo
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Astronomy, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604 USA email: [email protected]
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The alpha elements O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Cl, and Ar are produced together in massive stars and their abundances are expected to evolve in lockstep. Both H II regions and planetary nebulae serve as interstellar probes of alpha element abundances. We have measured abundances for the alpha elements O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar in over 130 Galactic Types I and II and halo PNe in a consistent manner from our own optical (3600–9600Å) spectra (Henry, Kwitter, & Balick 2004). Figure 1 is a plot of Ne vs. O for a combined dataset containing H II regions, blue compact galaxies, and our sample of planetary nebulae. All object types appear to be consistent with the expected linear relation between Ne and O. Similar plots of Cl and Ar vs. O show the same behavior. However, S vs. O is an exception.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
© 2006 International Astronomical Union