A CONFIRMATION OF ELECTRON TEMPERATURE GRADIENT IN OUR GALAXY

Various assumptions used in interpreting the observations of hydrogen recombination lines are critically assessed to confirm the gradient of electron temperature with distance from the galactic center. The total temperature increase from 5 to 13 kpc is about 2,500 K. Among many suggestions, we have singled out the decrease of trace dement abundances with the galactoccntric distance as the most viable cause for the temperature gradient. This will impose an important constraint on evolutionary models of the Galaxy.