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The abundance discrepancy in ionized nebulae: which are the correct abundances?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2025

J. E. Méndez-Delgado Open the ORCID record for J. E. Méndez-Delgado [Opens in a new window]  and
J. García-Rojas
J. E. Méndez-Delgado
Affiliation:
Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomieder Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstraße 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
J. García-Rojas
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
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Abstract

Ionized nebulae are key to understanding the chemical composition and evolution of the Universe. Among these nebulae, H ii regions and planetary nebulae are particularly important as they provide insight into the present and past chemical composition of the interstellar medium, along with the nucleosynthetic processes involved in the chemical evolution of the gas. However, the heavy-element abundances derived from collisionally excited lines (CELs) and recombination lines (RLs) do not align. This longstanding abundance discrepancy problem calls into question our absolute abundance determinations. Which of the lines (if any) provides the correct heavy element abundances? Recently, it has been shown that there are temperature inhomogeneities concentrated within the highly ionized gas of the H ii regions, causing the reported discrepancy. However, planetary nebulae do not exhibit the same trends as the H ii regions, suggesting a different origin for the abundance discrepancy. In this proceedings, we briefly discuss the state-of-the-art of the abundance discrepancy problem in both H ii regions and planetary nebulae.

Keywords

ISM: abundances(ISM:) HII regions(ISM:) planetary nebulae: general

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Type
Contributed Paper
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 19 , Symposium S384: Planetary Nebulae: A Universal Toolbox in the Era of Precision Astrophysics , December 2023 , pp. 370 - 378
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union

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