SDSS-IV MaNGA: Variations in the N/O -- O/H relation bias metallicity gradient measurements

Abstract

In this paper we use strong line calibrations of N/O and O/H in MaNGA spaxel data to explore the systematics introduced by variations in N/O on various strong-line metallicity diagnostics. We find radial variations in N/O at fixed O/H which correlate with total galaxy stellar-mass; and which can induce $\sim 40\%$ systematic uncertainties in oxygen abundance gradients when nitrogen-dependent abundance calibrations are used. Empirically, we find that these differences are associated with variation in the local star formation efficiency, as predicted by recent chemical evolution models for galaxies, but we cannot rule out other processes such as radial migration and the accretion of passive dwarf galaxies also playing a role.

8 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to ApJL. All comments are welcome

References in corpus (10)

• The 2.5 m Telescope of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Overview of the SDSS-IV MaNGA Survey: Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory
• The MaNGA Integral Field Unit Fiber Feed System for the Sloan 2.5 m Telescope
• The Data Reduction Pipeline for the SDSS-IV MaNGA IFU Galaxy Survey
• The SDSS-IV MaNGA Sample: Design, Optimization, and Usage Considerations
• SDSS-IV MaNGA IFS Galaxy Survey --- Survey Design, Execution, and Initial Data Quality
• Deriving model-based T${}_e$-consistent chemical abundances in ionised gaseous nebulae
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: What Shapes The Distribution Of Metals In Galaxies? Exploring The Roles Of The Local Gas Fraction And Escape Velocity
• From 'bathtub' galaxy evolution models to metallicity gradients
• The EDGE-CALIFA Survey: Using Optical Extinction to Probe the Spatially-Resolved Distribution of Gas in Nearby Galaxies

Cited by in corpus (20)

• JADES: Detecting [OIII]$\lambda 4363$ Emitters and Testing Strong Line Calibrations in the High-$z$ Universe with Ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec Spectroscopy up to $z\sim 9.5$
• The physics of gas phase metallicity gradients in galaxies
• The metallicity's fundamental dependence on both local and global galactic quantities
• Empirical Constraints on the Nucleosynthesis of Nitrogen
• Evidence for the Accretion of Gas in Star-Forming Galaxies: High N/O Abundances in Regions of Anomalously-Low Metallicity
• Upper boundaries of AGN regions in optical diagnostic diagrams
• Far-Infrared Line Diagnostics: Improving N/O Abundance Estimates for Dusty Galaxies
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: galaxy gas-phase metallicity gradients vary across the mass-size plane
• HII regions in CALIFA survey: II. The relation between their physical properties and galaxy evolution
• Gas metallicity distributions in SDSS-IV MaNGA galaxies: what drives gradients and local trends?
• How well do local relations predict gas-phase metallicity gradients? Results from SDSS-IV MaNGA
• The mass-metallicity and fundamental metallicity relations in non-AGN and AGN-host galaxies
• The Anisotropic Circumgalactic Medium of Massive Early-Type Galaxies
• Self-Consistent Grain Depletions and Abundances II: Effects on strong-line diagnostics of extragalactic H II regions
• Investigating the Origin of Observed Central Dips in Radial Metallicity Profiles
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: Enhanced Star Formation in Galactic-scale Outflows
• SDSS-IV/MaNGA: Can impulsive gaseous inflows explain steep oxygen abundance profiles \& anomalously-low-metallicity regions?
• Spatially Resolved Properties of Supernova Host Galaxies in SDSS-IV MaNGA
• The dependence of the gradients of oxygen and nitrogen-to-oxygen on stellar age in MaNGA galaxies
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: Exploring the local scaling relations for N/O