Electron temperature relations and the direct N, O, Ne, S and Ar abundances of 49 959 star-forming galaxies in DESI Data Release 2

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ID: 322005
2026
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Abstract
Abstract We present the largest direct-method abundance catalogue of galaxies to date, containing measurements of 49 959 star-forming galaxies at z < 0.96 from DESI Data Release 2. By directly measuring electron temperatures across multiple ionisation zones, we provide constraints on a number of electron temperature relations. Using the temperature measurements, we derive reliable abundances for N, O, Ne, S and Ar and measure the evolution of abundances and abundance ratios of as a function of metallicity and other galaxy properties. Our measurements include direct oxygen abundances for 49 507 galaxies, leading to the discovery of the two most metal-poor galaxies in the nearby Universe, with oxygen abundances of $\rm 12+\log (O/H) = 6.77_{-0.03}^{+0.03} \rm dex$ (1.2% $\rm Z_{\odot }$) and $\rm 12+\log (O/H) = 6.81_{-0.04}^{+0.04} \rm dex$ (1.3% $\rm Z_{\odot }$). We identify a rare outlier population of 24 galaxies with high N/O ratios at low metallicity, reminiscent of galaxy abundances observed in the early Universe. We find the Ne/O ratio is constant at low metallicity but increases gradually at $\rm 12+log(O/H) > 8.105\pm 0.004$ dex. We show that the S/O and Ar/O abundance ratios are strongly correlated, consistent with the expected additional Type Ia enrichment channel for S and Ar. In this work we present an initial survey of the key properties of the sample, with this dataset serving as a foundation for extensive future work on galaxy abundances at low redshift.
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Authors D. Scholte, F Cullen, J Moustakas, H Zou, A. Saintonge, K Z Arellano-Cordova, T M Stanton, B Andrews, J Sui, J Aguilar, S Ahlen, D Bianchi, D Brooks, F. J. Castander, Ting-Yun Cheng, T Claybaugh, A de la Macorra, B Dey, P Doel, K Douglass, S Ferraro, J. E. Forero-Romero, E Gaztañaga, S Gontcho A Gontcho, G Gutierrez, R Joyce, A Kremin, O Lahav, M Landriau, L Le Guillou, P Martini, A Meisner, R Miquel, Will J. Percival, C Poppett, F Prada, I Pérez-Ràfols, G Rossi, E Sanchez, D Schlegel, Z Shao, J Silber, D Sprayberry, G Tarlé, B A Weaver
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1381
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1381
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