scholarly journals The [C ii]–SFR correlation in dwarf galaxies across cosmic time

2020 ◽  
Vol 492 (2) ◽  
pp. 2818-2827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Lupi ◽  
Stefano Bovino

ABSTRACT Current galaxy observations suggest that a roughly linear correlation exists between the [C ii] emission and the star formation rate, either as spatially resolved or integrated quantities. Observationally, this correlation seems to be independent of metallicity, but the very large scatter does not allow to properly assess whether this is true. On the other hand, theoretical models tend to suggest a metallicity dependence of the correlation. In this study, we investigate the metallicity evolution of the correlation via a high-resolution zoom-in cosmological simulation of a dwarf galaxy employing state-of-the-art sub-grid modelling for gas cooling, star formation, and stellar feedback, and that self-consistently evolves the abundances of metal elements out of equilibrium. Our results suggest that the correlation should evolve with metallicity, in agreement with theoretical predictions, but also that this evolution can be hardly detected in observations, because of the large scatter. We also find that most of the [C ii] emission is associated with neutral gas at low-intermediate densities, whereas the highest emissivity is produced by the densest regions around star-forming regions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (4) ◽  
pp. 4940-4960
Author(s):  
Henry R M Zovaro ◽  
Robert Sharp ◽  
Nicole P H Nesvadba ◽  
Lisa Kewley ◽  
Ralph Sutherland ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Local examples of jet-induced star formation lend valuable insight into its significance in galaxy evolution and can provide important observational constraints for theoretical models of positive feedback. Using optical integral field spectroscopy, we present an analysis of the ISM conditions in Minkowski’s object (z = 0.0189), a peculiar star-forming dwarf galaxy located in the path of a radio jet from the galaxy NGC 541. Full spectral fitting with ppxf indicates that Minkowski’s object primarily consists of a young stellar population $\sim \! 10\, \rm Myr$ old, confirming that the bulk of the object’s stellar mass formed during a recent jet interaction. Minkowski’s object exhibits line ratios largely consistent with star formation, although there is evidence for a low level ($\lesssim \! 15 \, \rm per \, cent$) of contamination from a non-stellar ionizing source. Strong-line diagnostics reveal a significant variation in the gas-phase metallicity within the object, with $\log \left(\rm O / H \right) + 12$ varying by $\sim \! 0.5\, \rm dex$, which cannot be explained by in-situ star formation, an enriched outflow from the jet, or enrichment of gas in the stellar bridge between NGC 541 and NGC 545/547. We hypothesize that Minkowski’s object either (i) was formed as a result of jet-induced star formation in pre-existing gas clumps in the stellar bridge, or (ii) is a gas-rich dwarf galaxy that is experiencing an elevation in its star formation rate due to a jet interaction, and will eventually redden and fade, becoming an ultradiffuse galaxy as it is processed by the cluster.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 273-273
Author(s):  
C. Catalán-Torrecilla ◽  
A. Gil de Paz ◽  
A. Castillo-Morales ◽  
J. Méndez-Abreu ◽  
S. Pascual ◽  
...  

AbstractExploring the spatial distribution of the star formation rate (SFR) in nearby galaxies is essential to understand their evolution through cosmic time. With this aim in mind, we use a representative sample that contains a variety of morphological types, the CALIFA Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) sample. Previous to this work, we have verified that our extinction-corrected Hα measurements successfully reproduce the values derived from other SFR tracers such as Hαobs + IR or UVobs + IR (Catalán-Torrecilla et al. 2015).Now, we go one step further applying 2-dimensional photometric decompositions (Méndez-Abreu et al. (2008), Méndez-Abreu et al. (2014)) over these datacubes. This method allows us to obtain the amount of SFR in the central part (bulge or nuclear source), the bar and the disk, separately. First, we determine the light coming from each component as the ratio between the luminosity in every component (bulge, bar or disk) and the total luminosity of the galaxy. Then, for each galaxy we multiply the IFS datacubes by these previous factors to recover the luminosity in each component. Finally, we derive the spectrum associated to each galaxy component integrating the spatial information in the weighted datacube using an elliptical aperture covering the whole galaxy.2D photometric decomposition applied over 3D datacubes will give us a more detailed understanding of the role that disks play in more massive galaxies. Knowing if the disks in more massive SF galaxies have on average a lower or higher level of star formation activity and how these results are affected by the presence of nuclear bars are still open questions that we can now solve. We describe the behavior of these components in the SFR vs. stellar mass diagram. In particular, we highlight the role of the disks and their contribution to both the integrated SFR for the whole galaxy and the SFR in the disk at different stellar masses in the SFR vs. stellar mass diagram together with their relative position to the star forming Main Sequence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 485 (4) ◽  
pp. 5411-5422 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Arabsalmani ◽  
S Roychowdhury ◽  
T K Starkenburg ◽  
L Christensen ◽  
E Le Floc’h ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We report Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), Very Large Telescope (VLT), and Spitzer Space Telescope observations of ESO 184−G82, the host galaxy of GRB 980425/SN 1998bw, that yield evidence of a companion dwarf galaxy at a projected distance of 13 kpc. The companion, hereafter GALJ193510-524947, is a gas-rich, star-forming galaxy with a star formation rate of $\rm 0.004\, M_{\odot }\, yr^{-1}$, a gas mass of $10^{7.1\pm 0.1} \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$, and a stellar mass of $10^{7.0\pm 0.3} \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. The interaction between ESO 184−G82 and GALJ193510-524947 is evident from the extended gaseous structure between the two galaxies in the GMRT H i 21 cm map. We find a ring of high column density H i gas, passing through the actively star-forming regions of ESO 184−G82 and the GRB location. This ring lends support to the picture in which ESO 184−G82 is interacting with GALJ193510-524947. The massive stars in GALJ193510-524947 have similar ages to those in star-forming regions in ESO 184−G82, also suggesting that the interaction may have triggered star formation in both galaxies. The gas and star formation properties of ESO 184−G82 favour a head-on collision with GALJ193510-524947 rather than a classical tidal interaction. We perform state-of-the-art simulations of dwarf–dwarf mergers and confirm that the observed properties of ESO 184−G82 can be reproduced by collision with a small companion galaxy. This is a very clear case of interaction in a gamma-ray burst host galaxy and of interaction-driven star formation giving rise to a gamma-ray burst in a dense environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (1) ◽  
pp. L66-L71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simcha Brownson ◽  
Francesco Belfiore ◽  
Roberto Maiolino ◽  
Lihwai Lin ◽  
Stefano Carniani

ABSTRACT We study quenching in seven green valley galaxies on kpc scales by resolving their molecular gas content using 12CO(1–0) observations obtained with NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array and Atacama Large Millimeter Array, and their star formation rate using spatially resolved optical spectroscopy from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey. We perform radial stacking of both data sets to increase the sensitivity to molecular gas and star formation, thereby avoiding biases against strongly quenched regions. We find that both spatially resolved gas fraction (fgas) and star formation efficiency ($\rm {SFE}$) are responsible for quenching green valley galaxies at all radii: both quantities are suppressed with respect to typical star-forming regions. fgas and $\rm {SFE}$ have roughly equal influence in quenching the outer disc. We are, however, unable to identify the dominant mechanism in the strongly quenched central regions. We find that fgas is reduced by $\rm \sim\! 1~dex$ in the central regions, but the star formation rate is too low to be measured, leading to upper limits for the $\rm {SFE}$. Moving from the outer disc to central regions, the reduction in fgas is driven by an increasing $\rm \Sigma _{\star }$ profile rather than a decreasing $\rm \Sigma _{H_{2}}$ profile. The reduced fgas may therefore be caused by a decrease in the gas supply rather than molecular gas ejection mechanisms, such as winds driven by active galactic nuclei. We warn more generally that studies investigating fgas may be deceiving in inferring the cause of quenching, particularly in the central (bulge-dominated) regions of galaxies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 625 ◽  
pp. A114 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. F. Jiménez-Andrade ◽  
B. Magnelli ◽  
A. Karim ◽  
G. Zamorani ◽  
M. Bondi ◽  
...  

To better constrain the physical mechanisms driving star formation, we present the first systematic study of the radio continuum size evolution of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) over the redshift range 0.35 <  z <  2.25. We use the VLA COSMOS 3 GHz map (noise rms = 2.3 μJy beam−1, θbeam = 0.75 arcsec) to construct a mass-complete sample of 3184 radio-selected SFGs that reside on and above the main sequence (MS) of SFGs. We constrain the overall extent of star formation activity in galaxies by applying a 2D Gaussian model to their radio continuum emission. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations are used to validate the robustness of our measurements and characterize the selection function. We find no clear dependence between the radio size and stellar mass, M⋆, of SFGs with 10.5 ≲ log(M⋆/M⊙) ≲ 11.5. Our analysis suggests that MS galaxies are preferentially extended, while SFGs above the MS are always compact. The median effective radius of SFGs on (above) the MS of Reff = 1.5 ± 0.2 (1.0 ± 0.2) kpc remains nearly constant with cosmic time; a parametrization of the form Reff ∝ (1 + z)α yields a shallow slope of only α = −0.26 ± 0.08 (0.12 ± 0.14) for SFGs on (above) the MS. The size of the stellar component of galaxies is larger than the extent of the radio continuum emission by a factor ∼2 (1.3) at z = 0.5 (2), indicating star formation is enhanced at small radii. The galactic-averaged star formation rate surface density (ΣSFR) scales with the distance to the MS, except for a fraction of MS galaxies (≲10%) that harbor starburst-like ΣSFR. These “hidden” starbursts might have experienced a compaction phase due to disk instability and/or a merger-driven burst of star formation, which may or may not significantly offset a galaxy from the MS. We thus propose to use ΣSFR and distance to the MS in conjunction to better identify the galaxy population undergoing a starbursting phase.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S270) ◽  
pp. 103-106
Author(s):  
R. Rao ◽  
J.-M. Girart ◽  
D. P. Marrone

AbstractThere have been a number of theoretical and computational models which state that magnetic fields play an important role in the process of star formation. Competing theories instead postulate that it is turbulence which is dominant and magnetic fields are weak. The recent installation of a polarimetry system at the Submillimeter Array (SMA) has enabled us to conduct observations that could potentially distinguish between the two theories. Some of the nearby low mass star forming regions show hour-glass shaped magnetic field structures that are consistent with theoretical models in which the magnetic field plays a dominant role. However, there are other similar regions where no significant polarization is detected. Future polarimetry observations made by the Submillimeter Array should be able to increase the sample of observed regions. These measurements will allow us to address observationally the important question of the role of magnetic fields and/or turbulence in the process of star formation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 617-659
Author(s):  
Masami Ouchi ◽  
Yoshiaki Ono ◽  
Takatoshi Shibuya

Hydrogen Lyman-α (Lyα) emission has been one of the major observational probes for the high-redshift Universe since the first discoveries of high- z Lyα-emitting galaxies in the late 1990s. Due to the strong Lyα emission originated by resonant scattering and recombination of the most abundant element, Lyα observations witness not only Hii regions of star formation and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) but also diffuse Hi gas in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and the intergalactic medium (IGM). Here, we review Lyα sources and present theoretical interpretations reached to date. We conclude the following: ▪  A typical Lyα emitter (LAE) at z ≳ 2 with a L* Lyα luminosity is a high- z counterpart of a local dwarf galaxy, a compact metal-poor star-forming galaxy (SFG) with an approximate stellar (dark matter halo) mass and star-formation rate of 108−9M⊙ (1010−11M⊙) and 1–10 M⊙ year−1, respectively. ▪  High- z SFGs ubiquitously have a diffuse Lyα-emitting halo in the CGM extending to the halo virial radius and beyond. ▪  Remaining neutral hydrogen at the epoch of cosmic reionization makes a strong dimming of Lyα emission for galaxies at z > 6 that suggests the late reionization history. The next-generation large-telescope projects will combine Lyα emission data with Hi Lyα absorptions and 21-cm radio data that map out the majority of hydrogen (Hi+Hii) gas, uncovering the exchanges of ( a) matter by outflow and inflow and ( b) radiation, relevant to cosmic reionization, between galaxies and the CGM/IGM.


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (4) ◽  
pp. 4751-4770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mallory Molina ◽  
Nikhil Ajgaonkar ◽  
Renbin Yan ◽  
Robin Ciardullo ◽  
Caryl Gronwall ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The attenuation of light from star-forming galaxies is correlated with a multitude of physical parameters including star formation rate, metallicity and total dust content. This variation in attenuation is even more evident on kiloparsec scales, which is the relevant size for many current spectroscopic integral field unit surveys. To understand the cause of this variation, we present and analyse Swift/UVOT near-UV (NUV) images and SDSS/MaNGA emission-line maps of 29 nearby (z &lt; 0.084) star-forming galaxies. We resolve kiloparsec-sized star-forming regions within the galaxies and compare their optical nebular attenuation (i.e. the Balmer emission line optical depth, $\tau ^{l}_{B}\equiv \tau _{\textrm {H}\beta }-\tau _{\textrm {H}\alpha }$) and NUV stellar continuum attenuation (via the NUV power-law index, β) to the attenuation law described by Battisti et al. We show the data agree with that model, albeit with significant scatter. We explore the dependence of the scatter of the β–$\tau ^{l}_{B}$ measurements from the star-forming regions on different physical parameters, including distance from the nucleus, star formation rate and total dust content. Finally, we compare the measured $\tau ^{l}_{B}$ and β values for the individual star-forming regions with those of the integrated galaxy light. We find a strong variation in β between the kiloparsec scale and the larger galaxy scale that is not seen in $\tau ^{l}_{B}$. We conclude that the sightline dependence of UV attenuation and the reddening of β due to the light from older stellar populations could contribute to the scatter in the β–$\tau ^{l}_{B}$ relation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 76 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 569-578
Author(s):  
S. VAN LOO ◽  
S. A. E. G. FALLE ◽  
T. W. HARTQUIST ◽  
O. HAVNES ◽  
G. E. MORFILL

AbstractStar formation occurs in dark molecular regions where the number density of hydrogen nuclei nH exceeds 104 cm−3 and the fractional ionization is 10−7 or less. Dust grains with sizes ranging up to tenths of microns and perhaps down to tens of nanometers contain just less than 1% of the mass. Recombination on grains is important for the removal of gas-phase ions, which are produced by cosmic rays penetrating the dark regions. Collisions of neutrals with charged grains contribute significantly to the coupling of the magnetic field to the neutral gas. Consequently, the dynamics of the grains must be included in the magnetohydrodynamic models of large-scale collapse, the evolution of waves and the structures of shocks important in star formation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 624 ◽  
pp. A98 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Wang ◽  
W. J. Pearson ◽  
W. Cowley ◽  
J. W. Trayford ◽  
M. Béthermin ◽  
...  

Aims. We study the statistical properties of dusty star-forming galaxies across cosmic time, such as their number counts, luminosity functions (LF), and the dust-obscured star formation rate density (SFRD). Methods. We used the most recent de-blended Herschel catalogue in the COSMOS field to measure the number counts and LFs at far-infrared (FIR) and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) wavelengths. The de-blended catalogue was generated by combining the Bayesian source extraction tool XID+ and an informative prior derived from the associated deep multi-wavelength photometric data. Results. Through our de-confusion technique and based on the deep multi-wavelength photometric information, we are able to achieve more accurate measurements while at the same time probing roughly ten times below the Herschel confusion limit. Our number counts at 250 μm agree well with previous Herschel studies. However, our counts at 350 and 500 μm are below previous Herschel results because previous Herschel studies suffered from source confusion and blending issues. Our number counts at 450 and 870 μm show excellent agreement with previous determinations derived from single-dish and interferometric observations. Our measurements of the LF at 250 μm and the total IR LF agree well with previous results in the overlapping redshift and luminosity range. The increased dynamic range of our measurements allows us to better measure the faint-end of the LF and measure the dust-obscured SFRD out to z ∼ 6. We find that the fraction of obscured star formation activity is at its highest (>80%) around z ∼ 1. We do not find a shift of balance between z ∼ 3 and z ∼ 4 in the SFRD from being dominated by unobscured star formation at higher redshift to obscured star formation at lower redshift. However, we do find 3 <  z <  4 to be an interesting transition period as the portion of the total SFRD that is obscured by dust is significantly lower at higher redshifts.


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