Analysis of the Internal Radial Gradient of Chemical Abundances in Spiral Galaxies from CALIFA A. F. S. Cardoso, O. Cavichia, M. Mollá, L. Sánchez-Menguiano Astrophysical Journal, 2025 The study of chemical evolution is of paramount importance for understanding the evolution of galaxies. Models and observations propose an inside-out mechanism in the formation of spiral galaxy disks, implying a negative radial gradient of elemental abundances when represented on a logarithmic scale. However, in some instances, the observed chemical abundance gradients deviate from a single negative straight line, revealing inner drops or outer flattenings, particularly in more massive galaxies. This study analyzes oxygen abundance gradients in spiral galaxies based on observations from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey. Our focus is specifically on examining oxygen abundance gradient profiles, as obtained with data from H ii regions, with a special emphasis on the inner radial gradient. We employ an automated fitting procedure to establish correlations between the physical properties of galaxies and bulges and the presence of these inner drops, seeking potential explanations for these variations in gradient. We find that the different criteria used in the literature to distinguish H ii regions from other ionization sources in the galaxies, such as active galactic nuclei, significantly impact the results, potentially altering abundance gradient profiles and uncovering galaxies with distinct inner drops. Additionally, we analyze the abundance radial gradients to investigate the impact of diffuse ionized gas (DIG) decontamination on oxygen abundances over these inner drops. We observe that DIG, concentrated mainly in the central regions of galaxies, can modify oxygen abundance gradient profiles if left unaddressed.
Chemical evolution models: The role of type Ia supernovae in the α-elements over iron relative abundances and their variations in time and space O Cavichia, M Mollá, J J Bazán, A Castrillo, L Galbany, et al. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2024 The role of type Ia supernovae (SN Ia), mainly the delay time distributions (DTDs) determined by the binary systems, and the yields of elements created by different explosion mechanisms, are studied by using the MulChem chemical evolution model applied to our Galaxy. We explored 15 DTDs and 12 tables of elemental yields produced by different SN Ia explosion mechanisms, doing a total of 180 models. Chemical abundances for $\\alpha$-elements (O, Mg, Si, and Ca) and Fe derived from these models are compared with recent solar region observational data of $\\alpha$-elements over Fe relative abundances, [X/Fe], as a function of [Fe/H] and age. A multidimensional maximum-likelihood analysis shows that 52 models are able to fit all these data sets simultaneously, considering the 1$\\sigma$ confidence level. The combination of STROLG1 DTD from Strolger et al. (2020) and LN20181 SN Ia yields from Leung & Nomoto (2018) provides the best fit. The exponential model with very prompt events is a possible DTD, but a combination of several channels is more probable. The SN Ia yields that include MCh or Near MCh correspond to 39 (75 per cent) of the 52 best models. Regarding the DTD, 31 (60 per cent) of the 52 most probable models correspond to the SD scenario, while the remaining 21 (40 per cent) are based on the DD scenario. Our results also show that the relatively large dispersion of the observational data may be explained by the stellar migration from other radial regions, and/or perhaps a combination of DTDs and explosion channels.
The multizone chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge: predicting abundances for different radial zones O Cavichia, M Mollá, J J Bazán Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2023 Due to its proximity, the stellar populations of the Galactic bulge (GB) can be resolved and can be studied in detail. This allows tracing the bulge metallicity distribution function (MDF) for different spatial regions within the bulge, which may give us clues about the bulge formation and evolution scenarios. In this work, we developed a chemical evolution model (CEM), taking into account the mass distribution in the bulge and disc, to derive the radial dependence of this time-scale in the Galaxy. Since the infall rate depends on that time-scale in the CEM, the results of the model were used to test a scenario where the bulge is formed inside-out. The obtained results for the [α/Fe] versus [Fe/H] relationship, the MDF and the [Fe/H] radial gradient in the bulge have been compared to available data in the literature. The model is able to reproduce most of the observational data: the spread in the relation [α/Fe] versus [Fe/H], the MDF shape in different regions of the bulge, the [Fe/H] radial gradient inside it, and the age–metallicity relation, as well as the [α/Fe] evolution with age. The results of the model point to a scenario where the bulk of the bulge stars pre-existed the boxy/peanut X-shape bar formation. As a result, the classical origin of the GB is not ruled out, and this scenario may be invoked to explain the chemical properties of the GB.
2D-Galactic chemical evolution: The role of the spiral density wave M Mollá, S Wekesa, O Cavichia, Á I Díaz, B K Gibson, et al. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2019 We present a 2D chemical evolution code applied to a Milky Way type Galaxy, incorporating the role of spiral arms in shaping azimuthal abundance variations, and confront the predicted behaviour with recent observations taken with integral field units. To the usual radial distribution of mass, we add the surface density of the spiral wave and study its effect on star formation and elemental abundances. We compute five different models: one with azimuthal symmetry which depends only on radius, while the other four are subjected to the effect of a spiral density wave. At early times, the imprint of the spiral density wave is carried by both the stellar and star formation surface densities; conversely, the elemental abundance pattern is less affected. At later epochs, however, differences among the models are diluted, becoming almost indistinguishable given current observational uncertainties. At the present time, the largest differences appear in the star formation rate and/or in the outer disc (R ≥ 18 kpc). The predicted azimuthal oxygen abundance patterns for t ≤ 2 Gyr are in reasonable agreement with recent observations obtained with VLT/MUSE for NGC 6754.
Nucleosynthesis of intermediate mass stars: Inferences from the observed abundances in photoionized nebulae of the Local Group W. J. Maciel, R. D. D. Costa, O. Cavichia Journal of Physics Conference Series, 2018 Photoionized nebulae, comprising HII regions and planetary nebulae, are excellent laboratories to investigate the nucleosynthesis and chemical evolution of several elements in the Galaxy and other galaxies of the Local Group. Our purpose in this investigation is threefold: (i) to compare the abundances of HII regions and planetary nebulae in each system in order to investigate the differences derived from the age and origin of these objects, (ii) to compare the chemical evolution in different systems, such as the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, and other galaxies of the Local Group, and (iii) to investigate to what extent the nucleosynthesis contributions from the progenitor stars affect the observed abundances in planetary nebulae, especially for oxygen and neon, which places constraints on the amount of these elements that can be produced by intermediate mass stars.
The evolution of the oxygen radial gradients in spiral galaxies M. Mollá, O. Cavichia, B. Gibson, P. Tissera, P. Sánchez-Blázquez, et al. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2018 We analyse the evolution with redshift of the radial gradient of oxygen abundances in spiral disks resulting from our MULCHEM chemical evolution models, computed for galaxies of different sizes or masses, studying the relationships between the gradients and galaxy characteristics as the stellar mass, the size, the gas fraction or the star formation rate for z < 4.
Arm and interarm abundance gradients in CALIFA spiral galaxies L. Sánchez-Menguiano, S. F. Sánchez, I. Pérez, V. P. Debattista, T. Ruiz-Lara, et al. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2017 Spiral arms are the most singular features in disc galaxies. These structures can exhibit different patterns, namely grand design and flocculent arms, with easily distinguishable characteristics. However, their origin and the mechanisms shaping them are unclear. The overall role of spirals in the chemical evolution of disc galaxies is another unsolved question. In particular, it has not been fully explored if the H ii regions of spiral arms present different properties from those located in the interarm regions. Here we analyse the radial oxygen abundance gradient of the arm and interarm star forming regions of 63 face-on spiral galaxies using CALIFA Integral Field Spectroscopy data. We focus the analysis on three characteristic parameters of the profile: slope, zero-point, and scatter. The sample is morphologically separated into flocculent versus grand design spirals and barred versus unbarred galaxies. We find subtle but statistically significant differences betweenthe arm and interarm distributions for flocculent galaxies, suggesting that the mechanisms generating the spiral structure in these galaxies may be different to those producing grand design systems, for which no significant differences are found. We also find small differences in barred galaxies, not observed in unbarred systems, hinting that bars may affect the chemical distribution of these galaxies but not strongly enough as to be reflected in the overall abundance distribution. In light of these results, we propose bars and flocculent structure as two distinct mechanisms inducing differences in the abundance distribution between arm and interarm star forming regions.
Abundances in photoionized nebulae of the local group and nucleosynthesis of intermediate mass stars Revista Mexicana De Astronomia Y Astrofisica, 2017
Galactic chemical evolution Proceedings of the 12th Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics Ix Sea 2016, 2016
The Milky Way disk radial abundance gradient from planetary nebulae using Gaia DR3 data O Cavichia, H Monteiro, AR da Cunha-Silva, WJ Maciel, AFS Cardoso Boletim da Sociedade Astronômica Brasileira 37 (1), 274-277 , 2026 2026
Planetary Nebula detection using photometry in the galaxy NGC 6744 NG de Oliveira, O Cavichia Boletim da Sociedade Astronômica Brasileira 37 (1), 266-267 , 2026 2026
Recalibration of the H surface brightness-radius relation for planetary nebulae using Gaia DR3: new distances and the Milky Way oxygen radial gradient O Cavichia, H Monteiro, AR da Cunha-Silva, WJ Maciel, AFS Cardoso arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.19239 , 2025 2025
Analysis of the Internal Radial Gradient of Chemical Abundances in Spiral Galaxies from CALIFA AFS Cardoso, O Cavichia, M Mollá, L Sánchez-Menguiano The Astrophysical Journal 980 (1), 45 , 2025 2025 Citations: 7
Chemical evolution models: the role of type Ia supernovae in the α-elements over iron relative abundances and their variations in time and space O Cavichia, M Mollá, JJ Bazán, A Castrillo, L Galbany, I Millán-Irigoyen, ... Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 532 (2), 2331-2355 , 2024 2024 Citations: 11
Supernova rates and [\alpha/Fe] abundances in Milky Way Galaxy: their variations in time and space M Mollá, O Cavichia, JJ Bazán, A Castrillo, L Galbany, I Millán-Irigoyen Highlights on Spanish Astrophysics XI, 289 , 2023 2023
The multizone chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge: predicting abundances for different radial zones O Cavichia, M Mollá, JJ Bazán Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 520 (1), 402-417 , 2023 2023 Citations: 6
The inner radial gradient of chemical abundance in the CALIFA galaxies AFS Cardoso, O Cavichia Boletim da Sociedade Astrônomica Brasileira. Proceedings da XLV Reunião … , 2023 2023
A multizone chemical evolution model for the Milky Way bulge O Cavichia, M Mollá Boletim da Sociedade Astrônomica Brasileira. Proceedings da XLV Reunião … , 2023 2023
2D-Galactic chemical evolution: the role of the spiral density wave M Mollá, S Wekesa, O Cavichia, ÁI Díaz, BK Gibson, FF Rosales-Ortega, ... Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 490 (1), 665-682 , 2019 2019 Citations: 30
A spectrophotometric study of planetary nebulae and HII regions in the M83 galaxy MM de Brito, O Cavichia arXiv preprint arXiv:1907.04382 , 2019 2019
The formation of the Galactic bulge in an inside-out scenario O Cavichia, M Mollá arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.02022 , 2019 2019
2D-Chemical Evolution Models: The spiral wave over-density role M Mollá, S Wekesa, DS Wamalwa, O Cavichia, BK Gibson, ÁI Díaz, ... Highlights on Spanish Astrophysics X, 222-222 , 2019 2019
Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 dust environment from photometric observation at the SOAR Telescope E Picazzio, IV Luk’yanyk, OV Ivanova, E Zubko, O Cavichia, G Videen, ... Icarus 319, 58-67 , 2019 2019 Citations: 41
The time evolution of the Milky Way’s oxygen abundance gradient M Mollá, ÁI Díaz, O Cavichia, BK Gibson, WJ Maciel, RDD Costa, ... Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 482 (3), 3071-3088 , 2019 2019 Citations: 70
The evolution of the oxygen radial gradients in spiral galaxies M Mollá, O Cavichia, B Gibson, P Tissera, P Sánchez-Blázquez, AI Díaz, ... Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 14 (A30), 265-265 , 2018 2018
VizieR Online Data Catalog: CALIFA Survey DR3 list of galaxies (Sanchez+, 2016) SF Sanchez, R Garcia-Benito, S Zibetti, CJ Walcher, B Husemann, ... VizieR Online Data Catalog 359, J/A+ A/594/A36 , 2018 2018
Spectroscopic observations of the comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 at the SOAR telescope OV Ivanova, E Picazzio, IV Luk'yanyk, O Cavichia, SM Andrievsky Planetary and Space Science 157, 34-38 , 2018 2018 Citations: 28
Nucleosynthesis of intermediate mass stars: inferences from the observed abundances in photoionized nebulae of the Local Group WJ Maciel, RDD Costa, O Cavichia Journal of Physics: Conference Series 940 (1), 012045 , 2018 2018
The role of the spiral disks growth on the radial gradient of abundances M Mollá, AI Díaz, O Cavichia, Y Ascasibar, BK Gibson, WJ Maciel, ... Cosmic Feast of the Elements, 23 , 2017 2017
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
CALIFA, the calar alto legacy integral field area survey-iv. third public data release SF Sánchez, R García-Benito, S Zibetti, CJ Walcher, B Husemann, ... Astronomy & Astrophysics 594, A36 , 2016 2016 Citations: 342
Shape of the oxygen abundance profiles in CALIFA face-on spiral galaxies L Sánchez-Menguiano, SF Sánchez, I Pérez, R García-Benito, ... Astronomy & Astrophysics 587, A70 , 2016 2016 Citations: 230
Galactic chemical evolution: stellar yields and the initial mass function M Mollá, O Cavichia, M Gavilán, BK Gibson Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 451 (4), 3693-3708 , 2015 2015 Citations: 95
The time evolution of the Milky Way’s oxygen abundance gradient M Mollá, ÁI Díaz, O Cavichia, BK Gibson, WJ Maciel, RDD Costa, ... Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 482 (3), 3071-3088 , 2019 2019 Citations: 70
The role of the Galactic bar in the chemical evolution of the Milky Way O Cavichia, M Mollá, RDD Costa, WJ Maciel Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 437 (4), 3688-3701 , 2014 2014 Citations: 60
Photometric and spectroscopic analysis of Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 activity OV Ivanova, IV Luk, NN Kiselev, VL Afanasiev, E Picazzio, O Cavichia, ... Planetary and Space Science 121, 10-17 , 2016 2016 Citations: 58
The role of gas infall in the evolution of disc galaxies M Mollá, ÁI Díaz, BK Gibson, O Cavichia, ÁR López-Sánchez Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 462 (2), 1329-1340 , 2016 2016 Citations: 50
Arm and interarm abundance gradients in CALIFA spiral galaxies L Sánchez-Menguiano, SF Sánchez, I Pérez, VP Debattista, T Ruiz-Lara, ... Astronomy & Astrophysics 603, A113 , 2017 2017 Citations: 45
Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 dust environment from photometric observation at the SOAR Telescope E Picazzio, IV Luk’yanyk, OV Ivanova, E Zubko, O Cavichia, G Videen, ... Icarus 319, 58-67 , 2019 2019 Citations: 41
Planetary nebulae in the inner Milky Way: new abundances O Cavichia, RDD Costa, WJ Maciel Revista mexicana de astronomía y astrofísica 46 (1), 159-177 , 2010 2010 Citations: 38
2D-Galactic chemical evolution: the role of the spiral density wave M Mollá, S Wekesa, O Cavichia, ÁI Díaz, BK Gibson, FF Rosales-Ortega, ... Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 490 (1), 665-682 , 2019 2019 Citations: 30
Spectroscopic observations of the comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 at the SOAR telescope OV Ivanova, E Picazzio, IV Luk'yanyk, O Cavichia, SM Andrievsky Planetary and Space Science 157, 34-38 , 2018 2018 Citations: 28
Planetary nebulae in the inner Milky Way II: the Bulge-Disk transition O Cavichia, RDD Costa, WJ Maciel Revista mexicana de astronomía y astrofísica 47 (1), 49-61 , 2011 2011 Citations: 22
Radial abundance gradients from planetary nebulae at different distances from the galactic plane WJ Maciel, RDD Costa, O Cavichia Revista mexicana de astronomía y astrofísica 51 (2), 163-171 , 2015 2015 Citations: 13
Chemical evolution models: the role of type Ia supernovae in the α-elements over iron relative abundances and their variations in time and space O Cavichia, M Mollá, JJ Bazán, A Castrillo, L Galbany, I Millán-Irigoyen, ... Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 532 (2), 2331-2355 , 2024 2024 Citations: 11
The population of planetary nebulae near the Galactic Centre: chemical abundances O Cavichia, RDD Costa, WJ Maciel, M Mollá Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 468 (1), 272-290 , 2017 2017 Citations: 10
Analysis of the Internal Radial Gradient of Chemical Abundances in Spiral Galaxies from CALIFA AFS Cardoso, O Cavichia, M Mollá, L Sánchez-Menguiano The Astrophysical Journal 980 (1), 45 , 2025 2025 Citations: 7
The multizone chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge: predicting abundances for different radial zones O Cavichia, M Mollá, JJ Bazán Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 520 (1), 402-417 , 2023 2023 Citations: 6
The evolution of the oxygen abundance radial gradient in the Milky Way Galaxy disk M Mollá, O Cavichia, RDD Costa, WJ Maciel, B Gibson, AI Díaz Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 12 (S323), 245-253 , 2016 2016 Citations: 3
CALIFA, the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey S Sanchez, R García-Benito, S Zibetti, C Walcher, B Husemann, ... Astronomy & Astrophysics-A&A 594, A36 , 2016 2016 Citations: 3