To study the star formation and feedback mechanism, we simulate the evolution of an isolated dwarf irregular galaxy (dIrr) in a fixed dark matter halo, similar in size to WLM, using a new stellar feedback scheme. We use the new version of our original N-body/smoothed particle chemodynamics code, GCD+, which adopts improved hydrodynamics, metal diffusion between the gas particles and new modelling of star formation and stellar wind and supernovae (SNe) feedback. Comparing the simulations with and without stellar feedback effects, we demonstrate that the collisions of bubbles produced by strong feedback can induce star formation in a more widely spread area. We also demonstrate that the metallicity in star forming regions is kept low due to the mixing of the metal-rich bubbles and the metal-poor inter-stellar medium. Our simulations also suggest that the bubble-induced star formation leads to many counter-rotating stars. The bubble-induced star formation could be a dominant mechanism to maintain star formation in dIrrs, which is different from larger spiral galaxies where the non-axisymmetric structures, such as spiral arms, are a main driver of star formation.
We argue that isolated gas-rich dwarf galaxies -- in particular, dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies -- do not necessarily undergo significant gas loss. Our aim is to investigate whether the observed properties of isolated, gas-rich dwarf galaxies, not affected by external environmental processes, can be reproduced by self-consistent chemo-photometric infall models with continuous star formation histories and no mass or metals loss. The model is characterized by the total mass of primordial gas available to the object, its characteristic collapse timescale, and a constant star formation efficiency…
We have developed a grid of chemical evolution models applied to dwarf isolated galaxies, using \cite{gav05} yields. The input data enclose different star formation efficiencies, galaxy mass and collapse time values. The result is a wide collection of solutions that vary from objects with low metallicity and great amount of gas, to those with little gas and high metallicity. No environmental effects like tidal or galactic winds have been treated, so these objects are expected to be close to field dwarf galaxies, more than cluster ones. We have studied the time evolution of the abundance of oxy…
CCD - photometry is presented for 20 dIrr galaxies situated in the nearby complexes CenA/M83, and CVnI as well as in the general field of the Local Volume. We present integrated magnitudes of the galaxies in B,V,I - bands and also surface brightness profiles to a median isophote mu_B ~ 28 mag /sq.arcsec. The popular Sersic parameterization of surface brightness profiles generally does a poor job of simultaneously fitting the inner cores and outer exponential surface brightness fall-offs observed in many of our targets. The observed sample is a part of a general project to image about 500 nearb…
Using an optically-unbiased selection process based on the HIPASS neutral hydrogen survey, we have selected a sample of 83 spatially isolated, gas-rich dwarf galaxies in the southern hemisphere with cz between 350 and 1650 km s-1, and with R-band luminosities and HI masses less than that of the Small Magellanic Cloud. The sample is an important population of dwarf galaxies in the local Universe, all with ongoing star formation, and most of which have no existing spectroscopic data. We are measuring the chemical abundances of these galaxies, using the Integral Field Spectrograph on the ANU 2.3m…
We wish to clarify whether strong magnetic fields can be effectively generated in typically low-mass dwarf galaxies and to assess the role of dwarf galaxies in the magnetization of the Universe. We performed a search for radio emission and magnetic fields in an unbiased sample of 12 Local Group (LG) irregular and dwarf irregular galaxies with the 100m Effelsberg telescope at 2.64 and 4.85GHz. Magnetic fields in LG dwarfs are three times weaker than in the normal spirals (<4.2+-1.8muG). The production of total magnetic fields appears to be regulated mainly by the star-formation surface density,…
Using the Tremaine-Weinberg method, we measure the speed of the HI bar seen in the disk of NGC 3741. NGC 3741 is an extremely gas rich galaxy with an {H\,{\sc i}} disk which extends to about 8.3 times its Holmberg radius. It is also highly dark matter-dominated. Our calculated value of the pattern speed $Ω_p$ is 17.1 $\pm$ 3.4 km $\textrm{s}^{-1}\textrm{kpc}^{-1}$. We also find the ratio of the co-rotation radius to the bar semi-major axis to be (1.6 $\pm$ 0.3), indicating a slow bar. This is consistent with bar models in which dynamical friction results in a slow bar in dark matter dominated …
We exploit the vastly increased sensitivity of the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) to study the radio continuum and polarization properties of the post-starburst, dwarf irregular galaxy IC10 at 6 cm, at a linear resolution of ~50 pc. We find close agreement between radio continuum and Halpha emission, from the brightest HII regions to the weaker emission in the disk. A quantitative analysis shows a strictly linear correlation, where the thermal component contributes 50% to the total radio emission, the remainder being due to a non-thermal component with a surprisingly steep radio spectral ind…
Dwarf irregular and blue compact galaxies are very interesting objects since they are relatively simple and unevolved. We present new models for the chemical evolution of these galaxies by assuming different regimes of star formation (bursting and continuous) and different kinds of galactic winds (normal and metal-enhanced). Our results show that in order to reproduce all the properties of these galaxies, including the spread in the chemical abundances, the star formation should have proceeded in bursts and the number of bursts should be not larger than 10 in each galaxy, and that metal-enhanc…
We use the measured B band axial ratios of galaxies from an updated catalog of Local Volume galaxies to determine the intrinsic shape of dwarf irregular galaxies (de Vacouleurs' morphological types 8, 9 and 10). We find that the shapes change systematically with luminosity, with fainter galaxies being thicker. In particular, we divide our sample into sub-samples and find that the most luminous dwarfs (-19.6 < M_B < -14.8) have thin discs (thickness ~ 0.2), with the disc being slightly elliptical (axial ratio ~ 0.8). At intermediate luminosity, viz. -14.8 < M_B < -12.6, the galaxies are still c…
We present a deep spectroscopic search for CO emission in the dwarf irregular galaxy DDO154, which has an Oxygen abundance of only 1/20 the solar value. The observations were conducted in order to constrain the CO-to-$\mathrm{H_2}$ conversion factor at low metallicity. No CO was detected, however, despite being one of the sensitive observations done towards galaxies of this type. We succeed in putting a strong lower limit on the conversion factor, at least 10 times the Galactic value. Our result supports previous studies which argue for a high conversion factor at low metallicity.
Context. Outflows powered by the injection of kinetic energy from massive stars can strongly affect the chemical evolution of galaxies, in particular of dwarf galaxies, as their lower gravitational potentials enhance the chance of a galactic wind. Aims. We therefore performed a detailed kinematic analysis of the neutral and ionised gas components in the nearby star-forming irregular dwarf galaxy NGC 4861. Similar to a recently published study of NGC 2366, we want to make predictions about the fate of the gas and to discuss some general issues about this galaxy. Methods. Fabry-Perot interferome…
To explore the properties of extreme outer stellar disks, we obtained ultra-deep V and GALEX UV images of 4 dwarf irregular galaxies and one Blue Compact Dwarf galaxy and ultra-deep B images of 3 of these. Our V-band surface photometry extends to 29.5 magnitudes arcsec^-2. We convert the FUV and V-band photometry, along with Halpha photometry, into radial star formation rate profiles that are sensitive to timescales from 10 Myrs to the lifetime of the galaxy. We also compare the stellar distributions, surface brightness profiles, and star formation rate profiles to HI-line emission maps, gas s…
We have analyzed long-slit spectra of 12 dwarf irregular galaxies from the Arecibo Dual Beam Survey (ADBS). These galaxies represent a heterogeneous sample of objects detected by ADBS, but on average are relatively gas-rich, low-surface-brightness, and low-mass, thus represent a region of the galaxian population that is not commonly included in optical surveys. The metallicity-luminosity relationship for these galaxies is analyzed; the galaxies discussed in this paper appear to be under-abundant at a given luminosity when compared to a sample from the literature. We attempt to identify a "seco…
On the basis of a new photometric analysis of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy NCG 6822 based on observations obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we have obtained a new estimate of the extinction of two fields located in the southeast region of the galaxy. Because of significant differences in the distance estimates to NGC 6822 available in literature, we decided to provide an independent determination of the distance to this galaxy based on an updated and self-consistent theoretical calibration of the tip of the red giant branch brightness. …
We present a photometric estimation of the distance and reddening values to the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1156, which is one of the best targets to study the isolated dwarf galaxies in the nearby universe. We have used the imaging data sets of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) High Resolution Channel (HRC) of the central region of NGC 1156 (26" X 29") available in the HST archive for this study. From the (U-B, B-V) color-color diagram, we first estimate the total (foreground + internal) reddening toward NGC 1156 of E(B-V) =0.35 +/- 0.05 mag, whereas only the f…
We determine the intrinsic axial ratio distribution of the 'gas' disks of extremely faint M_B > -14.5 dwarf irregular galaxies. We start with the measured (beam corrected) distribution of apparent axial ratios in the HI 21cm images of dwarf irregular galaxies observed as part of the Faint Irregular Galaxy GMRT Survey (FIGGS). Assuming that the disks can be approximated as oblate spheroids, the intrinsic axial ratio distribution can be obtained from the observed apparent axial ratio distribution. We use a couple of methods to do this, and our final results are based on using Lucy's deconvolutio…
HI spatial power spectra (PS) were determined for a sample of 24 nearby dwarf irregular galaxies selected from the LITTLE THINGS (Local Irregulars That Trace Luminosity Extremes - The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey) sample. The two-dimensional (2D) power spectral indices asymptotically become a constant for each galaxy when a significant part of the line profile is integrated. For narrow channel maps, the PS become shallower as the channel width decreases, and this shallowing trend continues to our single channel maps. This implies that even the highest velocity resolution of 1.8 km/s is not smaller …
Aims: We investigate the massive stellar content of the nearby dwarf irregular Wolf-Rayet galaxy IC 4662, and consider its global star forming properties in the context of other metal-poor galaxies, the SMC, IC 10 and NGC 1569. Methods: Very Large Telescope/FORS2 imaging and spectroscopy plus archival Hubble Space Telescope/ACS imaging datasets permit us to spatially identify the location, number and probable subtypes of Wolf-Rayet stars within this galaxy. We also investigate suggestions that a significant fraction of the ionizing photons of the two giant HII regions A1 and A2 lie deeply embe…
Clumpy galaxies in the GEMS and GOODS fields are examined for clues to their evolution into modern spirals. The magnitudes of the clumps and the surface brightnesses of the interclump regions are measured and fitted to models of stellar age and mass. There is an evolutionary trend from clump clusters with no evident interclump emission to clump clusters with faint red disks, to spiral galaxies of the flocculent or grand design types. Along this sequence, the interclump surface density increases and the mass surface density contrast between the clumps and the interclump regions decreases, sugge…
We have derived nebular abundances for 10 dwarf galaxies belonging to the M81 Group, including several galaxies which do not have abundances previously reported in the literature. For each galaxy, multiple H \ii regions were observed with GMOS-N at the Gemini Observatory in order to determine abundances of several elements (oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, neon, and argon). For seven galaxies, at least one H \ii region had a detection of the temperature sensitive [OIII] $λ$4363 line, allowing a "direct" determination of the oxygen abundance. No abundance gradients were detected in the targeted galaxi…
We present a new set of galaxy scaling relations for the relative mass content of atomic gas, molecular gas and stars. Such relations are driven by disc gravitational instability, and originate from the low galaxy-to-galaxy variance of Toomre's $Q$ stability parameter. We test such relations using more than 100 galaxies, from massive spirals to dwarf irregulars, thus spanning several orders of magnitude in stellar mass ($M_{\star}\approx10^{6\mbox{-}11}\,\mbox{M}_{\odot}$) and atomic gas mass ($M_{\mathrm{HI}}\approx10^{7\mbox{-}10.5}\,\mbox{M}_{\odot}$). Such tests demonstrate (i) that our sc…
We investigate the spatial extent and structure of the Pegasus dwarf irregular galaxy using deep, wide-field, multicolour CCD photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and new deep HI observations. We study an area of ~0.6 square degrees centred on the Pegasus dwarf that was imaged by SDSS. Using effective filtering in colour-magnitude space we reduce the contamination by foreground Galactic field stars and increase significantly the contrast in the outer regions of the Pegasus dwarf. Our extended surface photometry, reaches down to a surface brightness magnitude mu_r~32 mag/sq.arcse…
A galaxy's mean metallicity is usually closely correlated with its luminosity and mass. Consequently the most metal-poor galaxies in the local universe are dwarf galaxies. Blue compact dwarfs and tidal dwarfs tend to deviate from the metallicity-luminosity relation by being too metal-poor or too metal-rich for their luminosity, respectively. A less pronounced offset separates dwarf spheroidal (dSph) and dwarf irregular galaxies, making the former too metal-rich for their luminosity, which indicates different formation conditions for these two types of dwarfs. While environment (photo-evaporati…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are found ubiquitously in large, bulge-dominated galaxies throughout the local universe, yet little is known about their presence and properties in bulgeless and low-mass galaxies. This is a significant deficiency, since the mass distribution and occupation fraction of nonstellar black holes provide important observational constraints on SMBH seed formation theories and many dwarf galaxies have not undergone major mergers that would erase information on their original black hole population. Using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, we discovered …
