Effects of density and temperature variations on the metallicity of Mrk 71

Méndez-Delgado, J. Eduardo; Esteban, César; García-Rojas, Jorge; Kreckel, Kathryn; Peimbert, Manuel
Referencia bibliográfica

Nature Astronomy

Fecha de publicación:
3
2024
Número de autores
5
Número de autores del IAC
2
Número de citas
5
Número de citas referidas
3
Descripción
In a very recent work, [1] claim that the scenario of temperature inhomogeneities proposed by [2] ($t2$ > 0) is not able to explain the O$^{2+}$/H$^{+}$ abundance discrepancy observed between the calculations based on the optical [OIII] collisional excited lines (CELs) and the OII recombination lines (RLs) in the star forming galaxy Mrk71. In this work, we show that conclusions of [1] depend on several assumptions on the absolute flux calibration, reddening correction and the adopted electron density. In fact, using the data of [1] in a different way and even considering their 1{\sigma} uncertainties, it is possible to reach the opposite conclusion, consistent with $t2$ = $0.097 ^{+0.008}_{-0.009}$. Therefore, the existence of temperature inhomogeneities causing the O$^{2+}$/H$^{+}$ abundance discrepancy in Mrk71 can not be ruled out.