The oxygen abundance distribution in M101

Abstract

The well-observed spiral galaxy M101 was considered. The radial distributions of oxygen abundances determined in three different ways (with the classic Te - method, with the R23 - method, and with the P -- method) were compared. It was found that the parameters (the central oxygen abundance and the gradient) of the radial O/H(P) abundance distribution are close to those of the O/H(Te) abundance distribution. The parameters of the O/H(R23) abundance distribution differ significantly from those of the O/H(Te) abundance distribution: the central O/H(R23) oxygen abundance is higher by around 0.4dex and the gradient is steeper by a factor of around 1.5 as compared to those values in the O/H(Te) abundance distribution. The dispersion in O/H(P) abundance at fixed radius is rather small, around 0.08 dex, and is equal to that in O/H(Te) abundance. The dispersion in O/H(R23) abundance at fixed radius is appreciably larger, around 0.16 dex, compared to that in O/H(Te) abundance. It has been shown that the extra dispersion in O/H(R23) abundances is an artifact and reflects scatter in excitation parameter P at fixed radius.