Heavy Elements Unveil the Non-primordial Origin of the Giant H I Ring in Leo

The origin and fate of the most extended extragalactic neutral cloud known in the local universe, the Leo ring, is still debated 38 yr after its discovery. Its existence is alternatively attributed to leftover primordial gas with some low level of metal pollution versus enriched gas stripped during a galaxy−galaxy encounter. Taking advantage of Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer operating at the Very Large Telescope, we performed optical integral field spectroscopy of three H I clumps in the Leo ring where ultraviolet continuum emission has been found. We detected, for the first time, ionized hydrogen in the ring and identify four nebular regions powered by massive stars. These nebulae show several metal lines ([O III], [N II], [S II]) that allowed reliable measures of metallicities, found to be close to or above the solar value (0.8 ≤ Z/Z⊙ ≤ 1.4). Given the faintness of the diffuse stellar counterparts, less than 3% of the observed heavy elements could have been produced locally in the main body of the ring and not much more than 15% in the H I clump toward M96. This inference, and the chemical homogeneity among the regions, convincingly demonstrates that the gas in the ring is not primordial, but has been pre-enriched in a galaxy disk, then later removed and shaped by tidal forces and it is forming a sparse population of stars.