Luminosity - oxygen abundance relation for galaxies

Oxygen abundance (expressed in fraction of the solar value) as a function of the luminosity of the galaxies (in logarithm scale). This relation is fundamental in astrophysics. The relation for local galaxies is shown by the solid red line. The blue dots are the values derived from VLT spectra in a subset of the studied galaxies. They reveal for the first time that this relation is changing with time: for a given value of the luminosity, galaxies of different ages present different values of the oxygen abundance.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso0502a
Type:Chart
Release date:13 January 2005
Related releases:eso0502
Size:800 x 779 px

About the Object

Name:Galaxies
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy
Category:Galaxies

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