Bibcode
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).
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9
2013
Journal
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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