Dust-to-gas Ratio and Metal Abundance in Dwarf Galaxies

Abstract

We have compared the metallicity (represented by oxygen abundance), and the dust-to-gas ratio, in a sample of dwarf galaxies. For dwarf irregulars (dIrrs) we find a good correlation between the two quantities, with a power-law index ${0.54\pm 0.2}$. Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies do not show such a good correlation; in addition both the dust-to-gas ratio and the metallicity tend to be higher than for dIrrs. We have then developed a simple but physical analytical model for the above relation. Comparing the model results with the data, we conclude that: (i) for low values of the dust-to-gas ratio, the relation between the dust-to-gas ratio and the metallicity is quasi-linear, whereas for higher values the curve strongly deviates from the linear behavior, implying that the commonly used power-law approximation is very poor; (ii) the deviation from the linear behavior depends critically on the parameter $χ$, the ``differential'' mass outflow rate from the galaxy in units of the star formation rate (SFR); (iii) the shape of the curve representing the relation between the dust-to-gas ratio and the metallicity does not depend on the SFR, but only on $χ$; however, the specific location of a given galaxy on the curve does depend on $ψ$; (iv) the BCD metallicity segregation is due to a higher $ψ$, together with a significant differential mass outflow. Thus, the lack of correlation can be produced by largely different star formation rates and values of $χ$ in these objects.

19 pages, aas-latex, 7 figures, to appear in ApJ in March 1998, final revised version