Abstract:
Places of formation have been derived for a sample of 23 Cepheids with well-determined atmospheric abundances in an attempt to study the chemical inhomogeneities in the local interstellar medium. The abundance data available for the sample Cepheids is compiled and critically reviewed to adopt the most reliable estimates. It is found that the most conspicuous irregularity in the metallicity is exhibited by stars that are born in the local arm or in the interarm region. A scenario to explain these local variations in terms of supernova-induced star formation in interstellar gas enriched by massive stars formed in the density wave is proposed.
