The abundance discrepancy problem in HII regions

Abstract

The origin of the abundance discrepancy in nebulae is one of the key problems in the physics of photoionized nebulae. In this work we have analized a sample of Galactic and extragalactic H II regions where the abundance discrepancy have been measured, and we discuss the two main scenarios proposed to explain such discrepancy: temperature fluctuations over the observed volume of the nebulae and chemically inhomogeneous inclusions.

6 pages, 4 figures. To appear in " Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics IV " Proceedings of the VII Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA) held in Barcelona, September 12-15, 2006