Star formation and the interstellar medium in low surface brightness galaxies. I. Oxygen abundances and abundance gradients in low surface brightness disk galaxies

TL;DR

This study measures oxygen abundances in 64 HII regions across 12 low surface brightness galaxies, revealing generally low and radially uniform oxygen levels that suggest slow, sporadic evolution.

Contribution

It provides the first extensive set of oxygen abundance measurements in LSB galaxy HII regions, highlighting their low and uniform metallicity profiles.

Findings

Oxygen abundances are low, mostly 0.1 to 0.5 solar.

No regions with solar oxygen abundance were found.

Oxygen abundance remains constant with radius.

Abstract

We present measurements of the oxygen abundances in 64 HII regions in 12 LSB galaxies. We find that oxygen abundances are low. No regions with solar abundance have been found, and most have oxygen abundances $\sim 0.5$ to 0.1 solar. The oxygen abundance appears to be constant as a function of radius, supporting the picture of quiescently and sporadically evolving LSB galaxies.