The MOSDEF Survey: First Measurement of Nebular Oxygen Abundance at $z>4$
Alice E. Shapley, Ryan L. Sanders, Naveen A. Reddy, Mariska Kriek, William R. Freeman, Bahram Mobasher, Brian Siana, Alison L. Coil, Gene C. K. Leung, Laura deG… 展开作者
Alice E. Shapley, Ryan L. Sanders, Naveen A. Reddy, Mariska Kriek, William R. Freeman, Bahram Mobasher, Brian Siana, Alison L. Coil, Gene C. K. Leung, Laura deGroot, Irene Shivaei, Sedona H. Price, Mojegan Azadi, James Aird
We present the first spectroscopic measurement of multiple rest-frame optical emission lines at $z>4$. During the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey, we observed the galaxy GOODSN-17940 with the Keck I/MOSFIRE spectrograph. The K-band spectrum of GOODSN-17940 includes significant detections of the [OII]$λλ3726,3729$, [NeIII]$\lambda3869$, and H$γ$ emission lines and a tentative detection of H$δ$, indicating $z_{\rm{spec}}=4.4121$. GOODSN-17940 is an actively star-forming $z>4$ galaxy based on its K-band spectrum and broadband spectral energy distribution. A significant excess relative to the surrounding continuum is present in the Spitzer/IRAC channel 1 photometry of GOODSN-17940, due primarily to strong H$α$ emission with a rest-frame equivalent width of $\mbox{EW(H}α)=1200$ Å. Based on the assumption of $0.5 Z_{\odot}$ models and the Calzetti attenuation curve, GOODSN-17940 is characterized by $M_*=5.0^{+4.3}_{-0.2}\times 10^9 M_{\odot}$. The Balmer decrement inferred from H$α$/H$γ$ is used to dust correct the H$α$ emission, yielding $\mbox{SFR(H}α)=320^{+190}_{-140} M_{\odot}\mbox{ yr}^{-1}$. These $M_*$ and SFR values place GOODSN-17940 an order of magnitude in SFR above the $z\sim 4$ star-forming "main sequence." Finally, we use the observed ratio of [NeIII]/[OII] to estimate the nebular oxygen abundance in GOODSN-17940, finding $\mbox{O/H}\sim 0.2 \mbox{ (O/H)}_{\odot}$. Combining our new [NeIII]/[OII] measurement with those from stacked spectra at $z\sim 0, 2, \mbox{ and } 3$, we show that GOODSN-17940 represents an extension to $z>4$ of the evolution towards higher [NeIII]/[OII] (i.e., lower $\mbox{O/H}$) at fixed stellar mass. It will be possible to perform the measurements presented here out to $z\sim 10$ using the James Webb Space Telescope.
We use a sample of 532 star-forming galaxies at redshifts $z\sim 1.4-2.6$ with deep rest-frame optical spectra from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey to place the first constraints on the nebular attenuation curve at high redshift. Based on the first five low-order Balmer emission lines detected in the composite spectra of these galaxies (${\rm Hα}$ through ${\rm Hε}$), we derive a nebular attenuation curve that is similar in shape to that of the Galactic extinction curve, suggesting that the dust covering fraction and absorption/scattering properties along the lines-of-sight to…
We present measurements of the electron-temperature based oxygen abundance for a highly star-forming galaxy at z=3.08, COSMOS-1908. This is the highest redshift at which [OIII]$λ$4363 has been detected, and the first time that this line has been measured at z>2. We estimate an oxygen abundance of 12+log(O/H)$=8.00^{+0.13}_{-0.14}$. This galaxy is a low-mass ($10^{9.3}$ M$_{\odot}$), highly star-forming ($\sim50$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) system that hosts a young stellar population ($\sim160$ Myr). We investigate the physical conditions of the ionized gas in COSMOS-1908 and find that this galaxy …
We present results on the dust attenuation curve of z~2 galaxies using early observations from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. Our sample consists of 224 star-forming galaxies with nebular spectroscopic redshifts in the range z= 1.36-2.59 and high S/N measurements of, or upper limits on, the H-alpha and H-beta emission lines obtained with Keck/MOSFIRE. We construct composite SEDs of galaxies in bins of specific SFR and Balmer optical depth in order to directly constrain the dust attenuation curve from the UV through near-IR for typical star-forming galaxies at high redshift. …
We perform an aperture-matched analysis of dust-corrected H$α$ and UV SFRs using 303 star-forming galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts $1.36<z_\text{spec}<2.66$ from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. By combining H$α$ and H$β$ emission line measurements with multi-waveband resolved CANDELS/3D-HST imaging, we directly compare dust-corrected H$α$ and UV SFRs, inferred assuming a fixed attenuation curve shape and constant SFHs, within the spectroscopic aperture. Previous studies have found that H$α$ and UV SFRs inferred with these assumptions generally agree for typical star-form…
We present a joint analysis of rest-UV and rest-optical spectra obtained using Keck/LRIS and Keck/MOSFIRE for a sample of 62 star-forming galaxies at $z\sim2.3$. We divide our sample into 2 bins based on their location in the [OIII]/Hb vs. [NII]/Ha BPT diagram, and perform the first differential study of the rest-UV properties of massive ionizing stars as a function of rest-optical emission-line ratios. Fitting BPASS stellar population synthesis models, including nebular continuum emission, to our rest-UV spectra, we find that high-redshift galaxies offset towards higher [OIII]/Hb and [NII]/Ha…
We analyze the rest-optical emission-line spectra of $z\sim2.3$ star-forming galaxies in the complete MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. In investigating the origin of the well-known offset between the sequences of high-redshift and local galaxies in the [O III]5008/H$β$ vs. [N II]6585/H$α$ ("[N II] BPT") diagram, we define two populations of $z\sim2.3$ MOSDEF galaxies. These include the "high" population that is offset towards higher [O III]5008/H$β$ and/or [N II]6585/H$α$ with respect to the local SDSS sequence and the "low" population that overlaps the SDSS sequence. These two gr…
We derive the UV-optical stellar dust attenuation curve of galaxies at z=1.4-2.6 as a function of gas-phase metallicity. We use a sample of 218 star-forming galaxies, excluding those with very young or heavily obscured star formation, from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey with H$α$, H$β$, and [NII]$λ6585$ spectroscopic measurements. We constrain the shape of the attenuation curve by comparing the average flux densities of galaxies sorted into bins of dust obscuration using Balmer decrements, i.e., H$α$-to-H$β$ luminosities. The average attenuation curve for the high-metallicity…
We present results on the z~2.3 mass-metallicity relation (MZR) using early observations from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. We use an initial sample of 87 star-forming galaxies with spectroscopic coverage of Hβ, [OIII]λ5007, Hα, and [NII]λ6584 rest-frame optical emission lines, and estimate the gas-phase oxygen abundance based on the N2 and O3N2 strong-line indicators. We find a positive correlation between stellar mass and metallicity among individual z~2.3 galaxies using both the N2 and O3N2 indicators. We also measure the emission-line ratios and corresponding oxygen abu…
We present results on the star-formation rate (SFR) versus stellar mass ($M_*$) relation (i.e., the "main sequence") among star-forming galaxies at 1.37$\leq$$z$$\leq$2.61 using the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. Based on a sample of 261 galaxies with H$α$ and H$β$ spectroscopy, we have estimated robust dust-corrected instantaneous SFRs over a large range in $M_*$ ($\sim10^{9.5}-10^{11.5}M_\odot$). We find a correlation between log(SFR(H$α$)) and log($M_*$) with a slope of 0.65$\pm$0.08 (0.58$\pm$0.10) at 1.4<z<2.6 (2.1<z<2.6). We find that different assumptions for the dust cor…
We present results on the properties of neon emission in $z\sim2$ star-forming galaxies drawn from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. Doubly-ionized neon ([NeIII]3869) is detected at $\geq3σ$ in 61 galaxies, representing $\sim$25% of the MOSDEF sample with H$α$, H$β$, and [OIII]$5007$ detections at similar redshifts. We consider the neon emission-line properties of both individual galaxies with [NeIII]3869 detections and composite $z\sim2$ spectra binned by stellar mass. With no requirement of [NeIII]3869 detection, the latter provide a more representative picture of neon emissi…
We present results on the emission-line properties of 1.3<=z<=2.7 galaxies drawn from the complete MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. Specifically, we use observations of the emission-line diagnostic diagram of [OIII]5007/Hb vs. [SII]6717,6731/Ha, i.e., the "[SII] BPT diagram," to gain insight into the physical properties of high-redshift star-forming regions. High-redshift MOSDEF galaxies are offset towards lower [SII]6717,6731/Ha at fixed [OIII]5007/Hb, relative to local galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Furthermore, at fixed [OIII]5007/Hb, local SDSS galaxies fol…
We present results on the excitation properties of z~2.3 galaxies using early observations from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) Survey. With its coverage of the full suite of strong rest-frame optical emission lines, MOSDEF provides an unprecedented view of the rest-frame optical spectra of a representative sample of distant star-forming galaxies. We investigate the locations of z~2.3 MOSDEF galaxies in multiple emission-line diagnostic diagrams. These include the [OIII]/Hb vs. [NII]/Ha and [OIII]/Hb vs. [SII]/Ha "BPT" diagrams, as well as the O_32 vs. R_23 excitation diagram. We rec…
We present results from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey on broad flux from the nebular emission lines H$α$, [NII], [OIII], H$β$, and [SII]. The sample consists of 127 star-forming galaxies at $1.37 < z < 2.61$ and 84 galaxies at $2.95 < z < 3.80$. We decompose the emission lines using narrow ($\text{FWHM} < 275 \ \text{km s}^{-1}$) and broad ($\text{FWHM} > 300 \ \text{km s}^{-1}$) Gaussian components for individual galaxies and stacks. Broad emission is detected at $>3σ$ in $<10$% of galaxies and the broad flux accounts for 10-70% of the total flux. We find a slight increase …
We present constraints on the massive star and ionized gas properties for a sample of 62 star-forming galaxies at $z\sim2.3$. Using BPASS stellar population models, we fit the rest-UV spectra of galaxies in our sample to estimate age and stellar metallicity which, in turn, determine the ionizing spectrum. In addition to the median properties of well-defined subsets of our sample, we derive the ages and stellar metallicities for 30 high-SNR individual galaxies -- the largest sample of individual galaxies at high redshift with such measurements. Most galaxies in this high-SNR subsample have stel…
We present the first direct comparison between Balmer line and panchromatic SED-based SFRs for z~2 galaxies. For this comparison we used 17 star-forming galaxies selected from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey, with $3σ$ detections for H$α$ and at least two IR bands (Spitzer/MIPS 24$μ$m and Herschel/PACS 100 and 160$μ$m, and in some cases Herschel/SPIRE 250, 350, and 500$μ$m). The galaxies have total IR (8-1000$μ$m) luminosities of $\sim10^{11.4}-10^{12.4}\,\textrm{L}_\odot$ and star-formation rates (SFRs) of $\sim30-250\,\textrm{M}_\odot\,\mathrm{yr^{-1}}$. We fit the UV-to-far…
We use the large spectroscopic data set of the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field survey to investigate the kinematics and energetics of ionised gas outflows. Using a sample of 598 star-forming galaxies at redshift 1.4 < $z$ < 3.8, we decompose $\rm{H}α$ and [OIII] emission lines into narrow and broad components, finding significant detections of broad components in 10% of the sample. The ionised outflow velocity from individual galaxies appears independent of galaxy properties, such as stellar mass, star-formation rate (SFR), and star-formation-rate surface density ($Σ_{\rm SFR}$). Adopting a simpl…
We present detections of [OIII]$λ$4363 and direct-method metallicities for star-forming galaxies at $z=1.7-3.6$. We combine new measurements from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey with literature sources to construct a sample of 18 galaxies with direct-method metallicities at $z>1$, spanning $7.5<1$2+log(O/H$)<8.2$ and log(M$_*$/M$_{\odot})=7-10$. We find that strong-line calibrations based on local analogs of high-redshift galaxies reliably reproduce the metallicity of the $z>1$ sample on average. We construct the first mass-metallicity relation at $z>1$ based purely on direct-…
We study the properties of 30 spectroscopically-identified pairs of galaxies observed during the peak epoch of star formation in the universe. These systems are drawn from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) Survey at $1.4 \leq z \leq 3.8$, and are interpreted as early-stage galaxy mergers. Galaxy pairs in our sample are identified as two objects whose spectra were collected on the same Keck/MOSFIRE spectroscopic slit. Accordingly, all pairs in the sample have projected separations $R_{\rm proj}\leq 60$ kpc. The velocity separation for pairs was required to be $Δv \leq 500 \mbox{ km s}^{…
Using observations from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey, we investigate the physical conditions of star-forming regions in $z\sim2.3$ galaxies, specifically the electron density and ionization state. From measurements of the [O II]$λλ$3726,3729 and [S II]$λλ$6716,6731 doublets, we find a median electron density of $\sim250$ cm$^{-3}$ at $z\sim2.3$, an increase of an order of magnitude compared to measurements of galaxies at $z\sim0$. While $z\sim2.3$ galaxies are offset towards significantly higher O$_{32}$ values relative to local galaxies at fixed stellar mass, we find that …
In this paper we present the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. The MOSDEF survey aims to obtain moderate-resolution (R=3000-3650) rest-frame optical spectra (~3700-7000 Angstrom) for ~1500 galaxies at 1.37<z<3.80 in three well-studied CANDELS fields: AEGIS, COSMOS, and GOODS-N. Targets are selected in three redshift intervals: 1.37<z<1.70, 2.09<z<2.61, and 2.95<z<3.80, down to fixed H_AB (F160W) magnitudes of 24.0, 24.5 and 25.0, respectively, using the photometric and spectroscopic catalogs from the 3D-HST survey. We target both strong nebular emission lines (e.g., [OII], Hbeta, […
The AURORA Survey: Multiple Balmer and Paschen Emission Lines for Individual Star-forming Galaxies at z=1.5-4.4. II. Implications for Nebular Dust Corrections, Nebular SFRs, and Differential Reddening
University of California, Riverside（加州大学河滨分校）；University of California, Los Angeles（加州大学洛杉矶分校）；University of California, Davis（加州大学戴维斯分校）；University of Arizona（亚利桑那大学）；Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik（马克斯·普朗克地外物理学研究所）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；University College London（伦敦大学学院）
We constructed an oxygen abundance map and N/O ratio map of the unusually low excitation dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 4163 based on publicly available spectroscopy obtained by the MaNGA survey. We detected auroral emission line [OII]$λλ$7320,7330 which allows us to measure chemical abundance by direct T$_e$ method. We found that the scatter of the oxygen abundance derived by the strong line method is large. The oxygen abundances 12 + log(O/H) derived by strong line method vary from ~7.3 to ~7.8 with a mean value of ~7.55. The oxygen abundances derived in two apertures of 2 arcseconds by the dire…
Using the near-IR spectroscopy of the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey, we investigate the role of local environment in the gas-phase metallicity of galaxies. The local environment measurements are derived from accurate and uniformly calculated photometric redshifts with well-calibrated probability distributions. Based on rest-frame optical emission lines, [NII]$\lambda6584$ and H$α$, we measure gas-phase oxygen abundance of 167 galaxies at $1.37\leq z\leq1.7$ and 303 galaxies at $2.09\leq z\leq2.61$, located in diverse environments. We find that at $z\sim1.5$, the average metallic…
We define a new morphology metric called "patchiness" ($P$) that is sensitive to deviations from the average of a resolved distribution, does not require the galaxy center to be defined, and can be used on the spatially-resolved distribution of any galaxy property. While the patchiness metric has a broad range of applications, we demonstrate its utility by investigating the distribution of dust in the interstellar medium of 310 star-forming galaxies at spectroscopic redshifts $1.36<z<1.66$ observed by the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. The stellar continuum reddening distributio…
We combine spectroscopic measurements of H$α$ and H$β$ and UV continuum photometry for a sample of 673 galaxies from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field survey to constrain hydrogen ionizing photon production efficiencies ($ξ_{\rm ion}$, xi_ion) at z=1.4-2.6. We find average log(xi_ion/[Hz erg$^{-1}$])=25.06 (25.34), assuming the Calzetti (SMC) curve for the UV dust correction and a scatter of 0.28 dex in xi_ion distribution. After accounting for observational uncertainties and variations in dust attenuation, we conclude that the remaining scatter in xi_ion is likely dominated by galaxy-to-galaxy…
We present high S/N spectroscopy of 15 emission-line galaxies (ELGs) cataloged in the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey (KISS), selected for their possession of high equivalent width [O III] lines. The primary goal of this study was to attempt to derive direct-method ($T_e$) abundances for use in constraining the upper-metallicity branch of the $R_{23}$ relation. The spectra cover the full optical region from [O II]λλ3726,3729 to [S III]λλ9069,9531 and include the measurement of [O III]λ4363 in 13 objects. From these spectra, we determine abundance ratios of helium, nitrogen, oxygen, neo…
We present a new method to derive oxygen and carbon abundances using the ultraviolet (UV) lines emitted by the gas-phase ionised by massive stars. The method is based on the comparison of the nebular emission-line ratios with those predicted by a large grid of photo-ionisation models. Given the large dispersion in the O/H - C/O plane, our method firstly fixes C/O using ratios of appropriate emission lines and, in a second step, calculates O/H and the ionisation parameter from carbon lines in the UV. We find abundances totally consistent with those provided by the direct method when we apply th…
We calculate the effective temperature ($T_{\rm eff}$) of ionizing star(s), oxygen abundance of the gas phase $(\rm O/H)$, and the ionization parameter $U$ for a sample of H\,{\sc ii} regions located in the disks of 59 spiral galaxies in the 0.005 < z < 0.03 redshift range. We use spectroscopic data taken from the CALIFA data release 3 (DR3) and theoretical (for $T_{\rm eff}$ and $U$) and empirical (for O/H) calibrations based on strong emission-lines. We consider spatial distribution and radial gradients of those parameters in each galactic disk for the objects in our sample. Most of the gala…
Population synthesis models predict that high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) populations produced in low metallicity environments should be more X-ray luminous, a trend supported by studies of nearby galaxies. This trend may be responsible for the observed increase of the X-ray luminosity ($L_{\mathrm{X}}$) per star formation rate (SFR) with redshift due to the decrease of metallicity ($Z$) at fixed stellar mass as a function of redshift. To test this hypothesis, we use a sample of 79 $z\sim2$ star-forming galaxies with oxygen abundance measurements from the MOSDEF survey, which obtained rest-frame …
We carefully consider numerous explanations for the sulfur abundance anomaly in planetary nebulae. No one rationale appears to be satisfactory, and we suggest that the ultimate explanation is likely to be a heretofore unidentified feature of the nebular gas which significantly impacts the sulfur ionization correction factor.
Evidence for Shallow Nebular Attenuation Curves and Patchy Dust Geometry at z~2 with Pa-beta/H-alpha Measurements from JWST-MegaScience Medium Band Photometry
University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；University of Colorado, Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；Leiden University（莱顿大学）；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；The Pennsylvania State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）；Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, Sorbonne Université（巴黎天体物理研究所，法国国家科学研究中心，索邦大学）；University of Pittsburgh（匹兹堡大学）；Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学尼尔斯·玻尔研究所）
We present a theoretical investigation of the effect of multiple ionisation sources in HII regions on the total elemental abundances derived from the analysis of collisionally excited emission lines. We focus on empirical methods based on direct temperature measurements that are commonly employed in cases when the temperature of the nebular gas can be determined from the ratio of nebular to auroral lines of (e.g.) doubly ionised oxygen. We find that direct temperature methods that employ a two-temperature zone approach (DT2T methods) are very robust against the spatial distribution of sources.…
We present C and O abundances in the Magellanic Clouds derived from deep spectra of HII regions. The data have been taken with the Ultraviolet-Visual Echelle Spectrograph at the 8.2-m VLT. The sample comprises 5 HII regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 4 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We measure pure recombination lines (RLs) of CII and OII in all the objects, permitting to derive the abundance discrepancy factors (ADFs) for O^2+, as well as their O/H, C/H and C/O ratios. We compare the ADFs with those of other HII regions in different galaxies. The results suggest a possible …
The study of carbon and oxygen abundances yields information on the time evolution and nucleosynthetic origins of these elements, yet remains relatively unexplored. At low metallicities (12+log(O/H) < 8.0), nebular carbon measurements are limited to rest-frame UV collisionally excited emission lines. Therefore, we present UV spectrophotometry of 12 nearby, low-metallicity, high-ionization HII regions in dwarf galaxies obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. We present the first analysis of the C/O ratio in local galaxies based solely on simultaneous signifi…
We present a detailed study of the rest-optical (3600-7000 Angstrom) nebular spectra of ~380 star-forming galaxies at z~2-3 obtained with Keck/MOSFIRE as part of the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey (KBSS). The KBSS-MOSFIRE sample is representative of star-forming galaxies at these redshifts, with stellar masses M*=10^9-10^11.5 M_sun and star formation rates SFR=3-1000 M_sun/yr. We focus on robust measurements of many strong diagnostic emission lines for individual galaxies: [O II]3727,3729, [Ne III]3869, H-beta, [O III]4960,5008, [N II]6549,6585, H-alpha, and [S II]6718,6732. Comparisons with o…
We present a new model of the nebular emission from star-forming galaxies in a wide range of chemical compositions, appropriate to interpret observations of galaxies at all cosmic epochs. The model relies on the combination of state-of-the-art stellar population synthesis and photoionization codes to describe the ensemble of HII regions and the diffuse gas ionized by young stars in a galaxy. A main feature of this model is the self-consistent yet versatile treatment of element abundances and depletion onto dust grains, which allows one to relate the observed nebular emission from a galaxy to b…
We present BOND, a Bayesian code to simultaneously derive oxygen and nitrogen abundances in giant H II regions. It compares observed emission lines to a grid of photoionization models without assuming any relation between O/H and N/O. Our grid spans a wide range in O/H, N/O and ionization parameter U, and covers different starburst ages and nebular geometries. Varying starburst ages accounts for variations in the ionizing radiation field hardness, which arise due to the ageing of H II regions or the stochastic sampling of the initial mass function. All previous approaches assume a strict relat…
Computational chemistry is used here to determine the vibrational line spectrum of several candidate molecules. It is shown that the thiourea functional group, associated with various carbonaceous structures (mainly compact and linear aromatic clusters), is able to mimic the 21-$μ$m band emitted by a number of proto-planetary nebulae. The combination of nitrogen and sulphur in thiourea is the essential source of emission in this model: the band disappears if these species are replaced by carbon. The astronomical 21-$μ$m feature extends redward to merge with another prominent band peaking betwe…
FRESCO: Constraining Dust Attenuation and Star-Formation Rates of $z\sim 2$ Star-Forming Galaxies with JWST Paschen and Ground-Based Balmer Emission Line Observations
University of California, Riverside（加州大学河滨分校）；University of Geneva（日内瓦大学）；Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学尼尔斯·玻尔研究所）；Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)（奥地利科学技术研究院）；Yale University（耶鲁大学）；Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC-INTA（天体生物学中心（CSIC-INTA））；University of California, Los Angeles（加州大学洛杉矶分校）
We re-examine the recombination/collisional emission line (RL/CEL) nebular abundance discrepancy problem in the light of recent high-quality abundance determinations in young stars in the Orion star-forming region. We re-evaluate the CEL and RL abundances of several elements in the Orion nebula and estimate the associated uncertainties, taking into account the uncertainties in the ionization correction factors for unseen ions. We estimate the amount of oxygen trapped in dust grains for several scenarios of dust formation. We compare the resulting gas+dust nebular abundances with the stellar ab…
We present a sample of 22 blue ($(B-V)_{AB}<0.45$), luminous ($M_{B,AB}<-18.9$), metal-poor galaxies in the $0.69<z<0.88$ redshift range, selected from the DEEP2 galaxy redshift survey. Their spectra contain the $[OIII]\lambda4363$ auroral line, the $[OII]λ\lambda3726,3729$ doublet and the strong nebular $[OIII]λλ4959,5007$ emission lines. The ionised gas-phase oxygen abundances of these galaxies lie between $7.62<12+\log O/H < 8.19$, i.e. between $1/10 Z_{\odot}$ and $1/3 Z_{\odot}$. We find that galaxies in our sample have comparable metallicities to other intermediate-redshift samples, but …
Toward Unbiased Abundance Measurements in Inhomogeneous $\mathrm{H\,II}$ Regions
Northeastern University（东北大学）；University of Connecticut（康涅狄格大学）；Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg（海德堡大学天文学计算研究所）；Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Astronomía（墨西哥国立自治大学天文研究所）；European Southern Observatory（欧洲南方天文台）；INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿切尔蒂天文台）；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, University of Western Australia（西澳大利亚大学国际射电天文研究中心）；UK ALMA Regional Centre Node, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学物理学与天文学系乔德雷尔银行天体物理学中心英国ALMA区域中心节点）；Universität Heidelberg, Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik（海德堡大学天文学中心理论天体物理研究所）；Universität Heidelberg, Interdisziplinäre（海德堡大学跨学科）
Metal-poor nearby galaxies hosting massive stars have a fundamental role to play in our understanding of both high-redshift galaxies and low metallicity stellar populations. But while much attention has been focused on their bright nebular gas emission, the massive stars that power it remain challenging to constrain. Here we present exceptionally deep Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet spectra targeting six galaxies that power strong nebular C IV emission approaching that encountered at $z>6$. We find that the strength and spectral profile of the nebular C IV in these new spectra follow a sequ…
This paper presents a spectroscopic investigation of 11 HII regions in the nearby galaxy NGC 2403. The HII regions are observed with a long-slit spectrograph mounted on the 2.16 m telescope at XingLong station of National Astronomical Observatories of China. For each of the HII regions, spectra are extracted at different nebular radii along the slit-coverage. Oxygen abundances are empirically estimated from the strong-line indices R23, N2O2, O3N2, and N2 for each spectrophotometric unit, with both observation- and model-based calibrations adopted into the derivation. Radial profiles of these d…
We present photometric and spectroscopic measurements of 53 QSO-galaxy pairs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, where nebular emission lines from a 0<z<0.84 foreground galaxy are detected in the fiber spectra of a background QSO, bringing the overall sample to 103 QSO-galaxy pairs detected in the SDSS. We here study the nature of these systems. Detected foreground galaxies appear at impact parameters between 0.37 kpc and 12.68 kpc. The presence of oxygen and Balmer emission lines allows us to determine the emission line metallicities for our sample, which are on average super-solar in value. S…
We have obtained deep multi-object optical spectra of 49 HII regions in the outer disk of the spiral galaxy M83 (=NGC 5236) with the FORS2 spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. The targets span the range in galactocentric distance between 0.64 and 2.64 times the R25 isophotal radius (5.4-22.3 kpc), and 31 of them are located at R>R25, thus belonging to the extreme outer disk of the galaxy, populated by UV complexes revealed recently by the GALEX satellite. In order to derive the nebular chemical abundances, we apply several diagnostics of the oxygen abundance, including R23, [NII]/[OII] an…
We present a new basis for scaling abundances with total metallicity in nebular photoionisation models, based on extensive Milky Way stellar abundance data, to replace the uniform scaling normally used in the analysis of HII regions. Our goal is to provide a single scaling method and local abundance reference standard for use in nebular modelling and its key inputs, the stellar atmosphere and evolutionary track models. We introduce a parametric enrichment factor, zeta, to describe how atomic abundances scale with total abundance, and which allows for a simple conversion between scales based on…
We present spectra of 14 A-type supergiants in the metal-rich spiral galaxy M83. We derive stellar parameters and metallicities, and measure a spectroscopic distance modulus m-M = 28.47 +\- 0.10 (4.9 +\- 0.2 Mpc), in agreement with other methods. We use the stellar characteristic metallicity of M83 and other systems to discuss a version of the galaxy mass-metallicity relation that is independent of the analysis of nebular emission lines and the associated systematic uncertainties. We reproduce the radial metallicity gradient of M83, which flattens at large radii, with a chemical evolution mode…
Ultraviolet nebular emission lines are important for understanding the time evolution and nucleosynthetic origins of their associated elements, but the underlying trends of their relative abundances are unclear. We present UV spectroscopy of 20 nearby low-metallicity, high-ionization dwarf galaxies obtained using the Hubble Space Telescope. Building upon previous studies, we analyze the C/O relationship for a combined sample of 40 galaxies with significant detections of the UV O+2/C+2 collisionally-excited lines and direct-method oxygen abundance measurements. Using new analytic carbon ionizat…
We present a study of the [OIII]5007/[OII]3727 (O32) ratios of star-forming galaxies drawn from MUSE data spanning a redshift range 0.28<z<0.85. Recently discovered Lyman continuum (LyC) emitters have extremely high oxygen line ratios: O32>4. Here we aim to understand the properties and the occurrences of galaxies with such high line ratios. Combining data from several MUSE GTO programmes, we select a population of star-forming galaxies with bright emission lines, from which we draw 406 galaxies for our analysis based on their position in the z-dependent star formation rate (SFR) - stellar mas…
We spectroscopically identify 101 Galactic HII regions using spectra from the Large Sky Area Multi- Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) survey, cross-matched with an HII region catalog derived from the all-sky Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer(WISE) data. Among all HII regions in our sample, 47 sources are newly confirmed. Spatially, most of our identified HII regions are located in the anti-center area of the Galaxy. For each of the HII regions, we accurately extract and measure the nebular emission lines of the spectra, and estimate the oxygen abundances using the strong-line met…
NLTE spectral modelling for a carbon-oxygen and helium white-dwarf merger as a Ca-rich transient candidate
Queen’s University Belfast（贝尔法斯特女王大学）；Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien（海德堡理论研究所）；Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)（宇宙黎明中心）；Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学尼尔斯·玻尔研究所）；Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin（都柏林三一学院）；GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung（德国重离子研究中心）；Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg（海德堡大学天文学中心）
We examine the diagnostic power of rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) nebular emission lines, and compare them to more commonly used rest-frame optical emission lines, using the test case of a single star-forming knot of the bright lensed galaxy RCSGA 032727-132609 at redshift z~1.7. This galaxy has complete coverage of all the major rest-frame UV and optical emission lines from Magellan/MagE and Keck/NIRSPEC. Using the full suite of diagnostic lines, we infer the physical properties: nebular electron temperature (T_e), electron density (n_e), oxygen abundance (log(O/H)), ionisation parameter (log(q)…
Interpreting nebular emission lines in the high-redshift Universe
University of Sussex（苏塞克斯大学）；University of Hertfordshire（赫特福德大学）；University of Portsmouth（朴茨茅斯大学）；Academia Sinica（中央研究院）；National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）；Leiden University（莱顿大学）
A large sample of MgII emitting star-forming galaxies with low metallicity [O/H] = log(O/H)-log(O/H)sun between -0.2 and -1.2 dex is constructed from Data Release 14 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We selected 4189 galaxies with MgII 2797, 2803 emission lines in the redshift range z~0.3-1.0 or 35% of the total Sloan Digital Sky Survey star-forming sample with redshift z>0.3. We study the dependence of the magnesium-to-oxygen and magnesium-to-neon abundance ratios on metallicity. Extrapolating this dependence to [Mg/Ne]=0 and to solar metallicity we derive a magnesium depletion of [Mg/Ne]~-0.4…
