We present a study of the close (≲ 200 h75-1 kpc) environment of 110 relatively local (z ≲ 0.16) HII galaxies, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS; DR7). We use available spectroscopic ...and photometric redshifts to investigate the presence of a close and possibly interacting companion galaxy. Our aim is to compare the physical properties of isolated and interacting HII galaxies and investigate possible systematic effects in their use as cosmological probes. We find that interacting HII galaxies tend to be more compact, less luminous and have a lower velocity dispersion than isolated ones, in agreement with previous studies on smaller samples. However, as we verify, these environmental differences do not affect the cosmologically important LHβ − σ correlation of the HII galaxies.
Integral field spectroscopy obtained with the Potsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer Fiber Package (PPak) and the 3.5-m telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory has been used to study an outer H ii ...region complex in the well-studied galaxy NGC 6946. This technique provides detailed maps of the region in different emission lines, yielding spatially resolved information about the physical properties of the gas. The configuration was chosen to cover the whole spectrum from 3600 up to 10 000 Å, allowing the measurement of the near-infrared S iii lines. We selected four luminous knots to perform a detailed integrated spectroscopic analysis of these structures and of the whole PPak field of view (FOV). For all the knots the electron density has been found to be very similar and below 100 cm−3. The O iii electron temperature was measured in knots A, B, C and in the integrated PPak field, and was found to be around 8000 K. The temperatures of O ii and S iii were estimated in the four cases. The elemental abundances computed from the ‘direct method’ are typical of high-metallicity disc H ii regions, with a mean value of 12+log(O/H) = 8.65, comparable to what has been found in this galaxy by other authors for regions at similar galactocentric distance. Therefore a remarkable abundance uniformity is found despite the different excitations found throughout the nebula. However, due to the quality of the data, the electron temperatures and metallicities obtained have associated errors comparable to the typical dispersion found in empirical calibrations. Wolf–Rayet (WR) features have been detected in three of the knots, leading to a derived total number of WR stars of 125, 22 and 5 for knots A, C and B, respectively. The ratios of the numbers of WR to O stars are consistent with the prediction of Starburst99 for individual bursts with an age about 4 Myr. Knot D, with no WR features, shows weak Hα emission, low excitation and the lowest Hβ equivalent width, all of which points to a more evolved state. The integrated spectrum of the whole PPak FOV shows high excitation and a relatively evolved age that does not correspond to the individual knot evolutionary stages. Some effects associated with the loss of spatial resolution are also evidenced by the higher ionizing temperature that is deduced from the η′ parameter measured in the integrated PPak spectrum with respect to that of the individual knots.
We have developed a method for the determination of fast and accurate stellar population parameters in order to apply it to high-resolution galaxy spectra. The method is based on an optimization ...technique that combines active learning with an instance-based machine learning algorithm. We tested the method with the retrieval of the star formation history and dust content in ‘synthetic’ galaxies with a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios (S/N). The ‘synthetic’ galaxies were constructed using two different grids of high-resolution theoretical population synthesis models. The results of our controlled experiment show that our method can estimate with good speed and accuracy the parameters of the stellar populations that make up the galaxy even for very low S/N input. For a spectrum with S/N = 5 the typical average deviation between the input and fitted spectrum is less than 10−5. Additional improvements are achieved using prior knowledge.
In an effort to understand the correlation between X-ray emission and present star formation rate, we obtained XMM–Newton data to estimate the X-ray luminosities of a sample of actively star-forming ...H ii galaxies. The obtained X-ray luminosities are compared to other well-known tracers of star formation activity such as the far-infrared and the ultraviolet luminosities. We also compare the obtained results with empirical laws from the literature and with recently published analysis applying synthesis models. We use the time delay between the formation of the stellar cluster and that of the first X-ray binaries, in order to put limits on the age of a given stellar burst. We conclude that the generation of soft X-rays, as well as the Hα or infrared luminosities is instantaneous. The relation between the observed radio and hard X-ray luminosities, on the other hand, points to the existence of a time delay between the formation of the stellar cluster and the explosion of the first massive stars and the consequent formation of supernova (SN) remnants and high-mass X-ray binaries, which originate the radio and hard X-ray fluxes, respectively. When comparing hard X-rays with a star formation indicator that traces the first million years of evolution (e.g. Hα luminosities), we found a deficit in the expected X-ray luminosity. This deficit is not found when the X-ray luminosities are compared with infrared luminosities, a star formation tracer that represents an average over the last 108 yr. The results support the hypothesis that hard X-rays are originated in X-ray binaries which, as SN remnants, have a formation time delay of a few mega years after the star-forming burst.
We present a simple metallicity estimator based on the logarithmic N ii λ6584/Hα ratio, hereafter N2, which we envisage will become very useful for ranking galaxies in a metallicity sequence from ...redshift survey-quality data even for moderately low spectral resolution. We have calibrated the N2 estimator using a compilation of H ii galaxies having accurate oxygen abundances, plus photoionization models covering a wide range of abundances. The comparison of models and observations indicates that both primary and secondary nitrogen are important for the relevant range of metallicities. The N2 estimator follows a linear relation with log(O/H) that holds for the whole abundance range covered by the sample, from approximately 1/50th to twice the Solar value 7.2<12+log(O/H)<9.1. We suggest that the (S ii λλ6717,6731/Hα) ratio (hereafter S2) can also be used as a rough metallicity indicator. Because of its large scatter the S2 estimator will be useful only in systems with very low metallicity, where N ii λ6584 is not detected or in low-resolution spectra where N ii λ6584 is blended with Hα.
We present UV observations of seven H II regions in low-luminosity dwarf irregular galaxies and the Magellanic Clouds obtained with the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) on the Hubble Space Telescope ...(HST) in order to measure the C/O abundance ratio in the interstellar medium (ISM) of those galaxies. We measure both O III 1666 A and C III 1909 A in our spectra, enabling us to determine C(+2)/O(+2) with relatively small uncertainties. The results from our HST observations show a continuous increase in C/O with increasing O/H, consistent with a power law having an index of 0.43 +/- 0.09 over the range -4.7 to -3.6 in log (O/H). One possible interpretation of this trend is that the most metal-poor galaxies are the youngest and dominated by the products of early enrichment by massive stars, while more metal-rich galaxies show increasing, delayed contributions of carbon from intermediate-mass stars. Our results also suggest that it may not be appropiate to combine abundances in irregular galaxies with those in spiral galaxies to study the evolution of chemical abundances. Our measured C/O ratios in the most metal-poor galaxies are consistent with predictions of nucleosynthesis from massive stars for Weaver & Woosley's best estimate for the 12C(alpha, gamma) 16O nuclear reaction rate, assuming negligible contanmination from carbon produced in intermediate-mass stars in these galaxies. We detect a weak N III 1750 A multiplet in SMC N88A and obtain interesting upper limits for two other objects. Our 2 sigma uppr limits on the 1750 A feature indicate that the N(+2)/O(+2) ratios in these objects are not significantly larger than the N(+)/O(+) ratios measured from optical spectra. This behavior is consistent with predictions of photionization models, although better detections of N III are needed to confirm the results.
In this paper we present the first results of a study of BAL QSOs (at low and high redshift), based on very deep Gemini GMOS integral field spectroscopy. In particular, the results obtained for the ...nearest BAL IR–QSO Mrk 231 are presented. For the nuclear region of Mrk 231, the QSO and host galaxy components were modelled, using a new technique of decoupling 3D spectra. From this study, the following main results were found: (i) in the pure host galaxy spectrum an extreme nuclear starburst component was clearly observed, as a very strong increase in the flux, at the blue wavelengths; (ii) the BAL system I is observed in the spectrum of the host galaxy; (iii) in the clean/pure QSO emission spectrum, only broad lines were detected. 3D GMOS individual spectra (specially in the near-infrared Ca ii triplet) and maps confirm the presence of an extreme and young nuclear starburst (8 < age < 15 Myr), which was detected in a ring or toroid with a radius r= 0.3 arcsec ∼ 200 pc, around the core of the nucleus. The extreme continuum blue component was detected only to the south of the core of the nucleus. This area is coincident with the region where we previously suggested that the galactic wind is cleaning the nuclear dust. Very deep 3D spectra and maps clearly show that the BAL systems I and II – in the strong ‘absorption lines’ Na iDλ5889–95 and Ca ii Kλ3933 – are extended (reaching ∼1.4–1.6 arcsec ∼ 1.2–1.3 kpc, from the nucleus) and clearly elongated at the position angle (PA) close to the radio jet PA, which suggest that the BAL systems I and II are ‘both’ associated with the radio jet. The physical properties of the four expanding nuclear bubbles were analysed, using the GMOS 3D spectra and maps. In particular, we found strong multiple LINER/OF emission-line systems and Wolf–Rayet features in the main knots of the more external super bubble S1 (r= 3.0 kpc). The kinematics of these knots – and the internal bubbles – suggest that they are associated with an area of rupture of the shell S1 (at the south-west). In addition, in the more internal superbubble S4 and close to the core of the nucleus (for r < 0.7 arcsec ∼ 0.6 kpc), two similar narrow emission-line systems were detected, with strong S ii and O i emission and ΔV∼−200 km s−1. These results suggest that an important part of the nuclear NLR is generated by the OF process and the associated low-velocity ionizing shocks. Finally, the nature of the composite BAL systems and very extended OF process – of 50 kpc – in Mrk 231 (and similar QSOs) are discussed. In addition, the ‘composite hyperwind scenario’ (already proposed for BALs) is suggested for the origin of giant Lyα blobs. The importance of study the end phases of Mrk 231, and similar evolving elliptical galaxies and QSOs (i.e. galaxy remnants) is discussed.
We have combined multiwavelength observations of a selected sample of star-forming galaxies with galaxy evolution models in order to compare the results obtained for different star formation rate ...(SFR) tracers and to study the effect that the evolution of the star-forming regions has on them. We also aimed at obtaining a better understanding of the corrections due to extinction and nuclear activity on the derivation of the SFR. We selected the sample from Chandra data for the well studied region Chandra Deep Field-South (CDFS) and chose the objects that also have ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) data from Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) and Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) Spitzer, respectively. Our main finding is that there is good agreement between the extinction corrected SFR(UV) and the SFR(X), and we confirm the use of X-ray luminosities as a trustful tracer of recent star formation activity. Nevertheless, at SFR(UV) larger than about 5 M⊙ yr−1 there are several galaxies with an excess of SFR(X) suggesting the presence of an obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN) not detected in the optical spectra. We conclude that the IR luminosity is driven by recent star formation even in those galaxies where the SFR(X) is an order of magnitude higher than the SFR(UV) and therefore may harbour an AGN. One object shows SFR(X) much lower than expected based on the SFR(UV); this SFR(X) ‘deficit’ may be due to an early transient phase before most of the massive X-ray binaries were formed. An X-ray deficit could be used to select extremely young bursts in an early phase just after the explosion of the first supernovae associated with massive stars and before the onset of massive X-ray binaries.
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