It is clear from stellar evolution and from observations of WR stars that massive stars are releasing metal-enriched gas through their stellar winds in the Wolf-Rayet phase. Although Hii region spectra serve as diagnostics to determine the present-day chemical composition of the interstellar medium, it is far from being understood to what extent the Hii gas is already contaminated by chemically processed stellar wind. Therefore, we analyzed our models of radiative and wind bubbles of an isolated 85 M star with solar metallicity (Kröger et al. 2006, A&A, in preparation) with respect to the chemical enrichment of the circumstellar Hii region. Plausibly, the hot stellar wind bubble (SWB) is enriched with 14 N during the WN phase and even much higher with 12 C and 16 O during the WC phase of the star. During the short period that the 85 M star spends in the WC stage enriched SWB material mixes with warm Hii gas of solar abundances and thus enhances the metallicity in the Hii region. However, at the end of the stellar lifetime the mass ratios of the traced elements N and O in the warm ionized gas are insignificantly higher than solar, whereas an enrichment of 22% above solar is found for C. Important issues from the presented study comprise a steeper radial gradient of C than O and a decreasing effect of self-enrichment for metal-poor galaxies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.