NITROGEN-TO-OXYGEN RATIO AS A SOLID TOOL TO ASCERTAIN THE CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES

Nitrogen is one of the most abundant metals in the ISM and
thus emitting strong emission-lines in the optical spectrum of ionized
gaseous nebulae. Its nucleosynthetic origin is quite different to
that of oxygen as it is produced both by massive stars and by
intermediate- and low-mass stars. Thus, the study of the nitrogen-to
-oxygen ratio by means of especially defined strong-line methods offers
a powerful tool to inspect with much more detail the chemical
content and history of star-forming galaxies. In this
contribution I will show how the study of this ratio allows us
to improve our conclusions about the processes of metal pollution in
several classes of starburst galaxies, such as the "Green Pea"
galaxies or how the study of the relation between N/O and stellar
mass at different cosmological epochs give place to new conclusions
about the evolution of the well-known universal mass-metalicity
relation.

Fecha: 
31/05/2012 - 14:00
Conferenciante: 
Enrique Pérez Montero
Filiación: 
IAA (CSIC)


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