Description
Six HII regions at galactocentric distances of R=10-15kpc have been observed in the far-IR emission lines of [OIII] (52{mu}m, 88{mu}m), [NIII] (57{mu}m), and [SIII] (19{mu}m) using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. These observations have been combined with Very Large Array radio continuum observations of these sources to determine the abundances of O++, N++, and S++ relative to hydrogen. In addition, eight of the most recent sets of measurements of ionic line strengths in HII regions have been reanalyzed in order to attempt to reconcile differences in optical versus far-IR abundance determinations. We have in total 168 sets of observations of 117 HII regions in our analysis.
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