On nitrogen abundances of planetary nebulae
Citation
Wilkes, B. J., G. J. Ferland, D. Hanes, and J. W. Truran. 1981. “On Nitrogen Abundances of Planetary Nebulae.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 197 (1) (November 1): 1–6. doi:10.1093/mnras/197.1.1.Abstract
Observations of N II recombination lines in the planetary nebula NGC 3242 are presented which allow the first temperature independent measurement of the nitrogen abundance of a nebula. Model nebula calculations are utilized to identify a reliable N/H indicator. The standard technique employing strong forbidden lines and the approximation that N/O ≃ N+/O+ may introduce systematic errors greater than 25 per cent. A good compromise is to set N/He = (N2+ + N+)/He+. The N/H abundance deduced in this manner is in reasonable (≃ 25 per cent) agreement with that deduced from the standard analysis.Terms of Use
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