On the central abundances of Active Galactic Nuclei and Star-forming Galaxies

Abstract

We examine the relation between oxygen abundances in the narrow-line regions (NLRs) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) estimated from the optical emission lines through the strong-line method (the theoretical calibration of Storchi-Bergmann et al. 1998), via the direct Te-method, and the central intersect abundances in the host galax- ies determined from the radial abundance gradients. We found that the Te-method underestimates the oxygen abundances by up to ∼2 dex (with average value of ~0.8 dex) compared to the abundances derived through the strong-line method. This con- firms the existence of the so-called ?temperature problem? in AGNs. We also found that the abundances in the centres of galaxies obtained from their spectra trough the strong-line method are close to or slightly lower than the central intersect abun- dances estimated from the radial abundance gradient both in AGNs and Star-forming galaxies. The oxygen abundance of the NLR is usually lower than the maximum at- tainable abundance in galaxies (~2 times the solar value). This suggests that there is no extraordinary chemical enrichment of the NLRs of AGNs.Fil: Dors Jr., O. L.. Universidade Do Vale Do Paraíba; BrasilFil: Cardaci, Monica Viviana. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Hägele, Guillermo Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico la Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de la Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; ArgentinaFil: Rodrigues, I.. Universidade Do Vale Do Paraíba; BrasilFil: Grebel, E. K. . Universität Heidelberg. Astronomisches Rechen-Institut. Zentrum für Astronomie; AlemaniaFil: Pilyugin, L. S. . Universität Heidelberg; Alemania. National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Ucrania. Kazan Federal University; RusiaFil: Freitas Lemes, P. . Universidade Do Vale Do Paraíba; BrasilFil: Krabbe, A. C. . Universidade Do Vale Do Paraíba; Brasi