3 research outputs found
The iron abundance of the Magellanic Bridge
High-resolution HST ultra-violet spectra for five B-type stars in the
Magellanic Bridge and in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds have been
analysed to estimate their iron abundances. Those for the Clouds are lower than
estimates obtained from late-type stars or the optical lines in B-type stars by
approximately 0.5 dex. This may be due to systematic errors possibly arising
from non-LTE effects or from errors in the atomic data as similar low Fe
abundances having previously been reported from the analysis of the
ultra-violet spectra of Galactic early-type stars. The iron abundance estimates
for all three Bridge targets appear to be significantly lower than those found
for the SMC and LMC by approximately -0.5 dex and -0.8 dex respectively and
these differential results should not be affected by any systematic errors
present in the absolute abundance estimates. These differential iron abundance
estimates are consistent with the underabundances for C, N, O, Mg and Si of
approximately -1.1 dex relative to our Galaxy previously found in our Bridge
targets. The implications of these very low metal abundances for the Magellanic
Bridge are discussed in terms of metal deficient material being stripped from
the SMC.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA