21 research outputs found
Density biases and temperature relations for DESIRED HII regions
We present a first study based on the analysis of the DEep Spectra of Ionized
REgions Database (DESIRED). This is a compilation of 190 high signal-to-noise
ratio optical spectra of HII regions and other photoionized nebulae, mostly
observed with 8-10m telescopes and containing 29380 emission lines. We
find that the electron density ---- of the objects is underestimated
when [SII] and/or [OII] are
the only density indicators available. This is produced by the non-linear
density dependence of the indicators in the presence of density
inhomogeneities. The average underestimate is cm in
extragalactic HII regions, introducing systematic overestimates of ([OII]) and ([SII]) compared to ([NII]). The
high-sensitivity of [OII]
and [SII] to density makes them
more suitable for the diagnosis of the presence of high-density clumps. If
([NII]) is adopted, the density underestimate has a small impact in
the ionic abundances derived from optical spectra, being limited to up to
0.1 dex when auroral [SII] and/or [OII] lines are used. However, these
density effects are critical for the analysis of infrared fine structure lines,
such as those observed by the JWST in local star forming regions, implying
strong underestimates of the ionic abundances. We present temperature relations
between ([OIII]), ([ArIII]), ([SIII]) and
([NII]) for the extragalactic HII regions. We confirm a non-linear
dependence between ([OIII])-([NII]) due to a more rapid
increase of ([OIII]) at lower metallicities.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Interpreting the Si II and C II line spectra from the COS Legacy Spectroscopic SurveY using a virtual galaxy from a high-resolution radiation-hydrodynamic simulation
Observations of low-ionization state (LIS) metal lines provide crucial
insights into the interstellar medium of galaxies, yet, disentangling the
physical processes responsible for the emerging line profiles is difficult.
This work investigates how mock spectra generated using a single galaxy in a
radiation-hydrodynamical simulation can help us interpret observations of a
real galaxy. We create 22,500 C II and Si II spectra from the virtual galaxy at
different times and through multiple lines of sight and compare them with the
45 observations of low-redshift star-forming galaxies from the COS Legacy
Spectroscopic SurveY (CLASSY). We find that the mock profiles provide accurate
replicates to the observations of 38 galaxies with a broad range of stellar
masses ( to ) and metallicities (0.02 to 0.55 ).
Additionally, we highlight that aperture losses explain the weakness of the
fluorescent emission in several CLASSY spectra and must be accounted for when
comparing simulations to observations. Overall, we show that the evolution of a
single simulated galaxy can produce a large diversity of spectra whose
properties are representative of galaxies of comparable or smaller masses.
Building upon these results, we explore the origin of the continuum, residual
flux, and fluorescent emission in the simulation. We find that these different
spectral features all emerge from distinct regions in the galaxy's ISM, and
their characteristics can vary as a function of the viewing angle. While these
outcomes challenge simplified interpretations of down-the-barrel spectra, our
results indicate that high-resolution simulations provide an optimal framework
to interpret these observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Red-giant and main-sequence solar-like oscillators in binary systems revealed by ESA Gaia Data Release 3 -- Reconstructing stellar and orbital evolution from binary-star ensemble seismology
Binary systems constitute a valuable astrophysics tool for testing our
understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Systems containing a
oscillating component are interesting as asteroseismology offers independent
parameters for the oscillating component that aid the analysis. About 150 of
such systems are known in the literature. To enlarge the sample of these
benchmark objects, we crossmatch the Two-Body-Orbit Catalogue (TBO) of Gaia
DR3, with catalogs of confirmed solar-like oscillators on the main-sequence and
red-giant phase from NASA Kepler and TESS. We obtain 954 new binary system
candidates hosting solar-like oscillators, of which 45 and 909 stars are on the
main sequence and red-giant, resp., including 2 new red giants in eclipsing
systems. 918 oscillators in potentially long-periodic systems are reported. We
increase the sample size of known solar-like oscillators in binary systems by
an order of magnitude. We present the seismic properties of the full sample and
conclude that the grand majority of the orbital elements in the TBO is
physically reasonable. 82% of all TBO binary candidates with multiple times
with APOGEE are confirmed from radial-velocity measurement. However, we suggest
that due to instrumental noise of the TESS satellite the seismically inferred
masses and radii of stars with 30Hz could be
significantly overestimated. For 146 giants the seismically inferred
evolutionary state has been determined and shows clear differences in their
distribution in the orbital parameters, which are accounted the accumulative
effect of the equilibrium tide acting in these evolved binary systems. For
other 146 systems hosting oscillating stars values for the orbital inclination
were found in the TBO. From testing the TBO on the SB9 catalogue, we obtain a
completeness factor of 1/3.Comment: under review for publication in A&A (22 pages + 4 pages of appendix,
21 figures, 33 pages of tables in the Appendix
The COS Legacy Archive Spectroscopy SurveY (CLASSY) Treasury Atlas
Far-ultraviolet (FUV; ~1200-2000 angstroms) spectra are fundamental to our
understanding of star-forming galaxies, providing a unique window on massive
stellar populations, chemical evolution, feedback processes, and reionization.
The launch of JWST will soon usher in a new era, pushing the UV spectroscopic
frontier to higher redshifts than ever before, however, its success hinges on a
comprehensive understanding of the massive star populations and gas conditions
that power the observed UV spectral features. This requires a level of detail
that is only possible with a combination of ample wavelength coverage,
signal-to-noise, spectral-resolution, and sample diversity that has not yet
been achieved by any FUV spectral database.
We present the COS Legacy Spectroscopic SurveY (CLASSY) treasury and its
first high level science product, the CLASSY atlas. CLASSY builds on the HST
archive to construct the first high-quality (S/N_1500 >~ 5/resel),
high-resolution (R~15,000) FUV spectral database of 45 nearby (0.002 < z <
0.182) star-forming galaxies. The CLASSY atlas, available to the public via the
CLASSY website, is the result of optimally extracting and coadding 170
archival+new spectra from 312 orbits of HST observations.
The CLASSY sample covers a broad range of properties including stellar mass
(6.2 < logM_star(M_sol) < 10.1), star formation rate (-2.0 < log SFR (M_sol/yr)
< +1.6), direct gas-phase metallicity (7.0 < 12+log(O/H) < 8.8), ionization
(0.5 < O_32 < 38.0), reddening (0.02 < E(B-V < 0.67), and nebular density (10 <
n_e (cm^-3) < 1120). CLASSY is biased to UV-bright star-forming galaxies,
resulting in a sample that is consistent with z~0 mass-metallicity
relationship, but is offset to higher SFRs by roughly 2 dex, similar to z >~2
galaxies. This unique set of properties makes the CLASSY atlas the benchmark
training set for star-forming galaxies across cosmic time.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
About Metallicity Variations in the Local Galactic Interstellar Medium
In this paper we discuss and confront recent results on metallicity
variations in the local interstellar medium, obtained from observations of HII
regions and neutral clouds of the Galactic thin disk, and compare them with
recent high-quality metallicity determinations of other tracers of the chemical
composition of the interstellar medium as B-type stars, classical Cepheids and
young clusters. We find that the metallicity variations obtained for these last
kinds of objects are consistent with each other and with that obtained for HII
regions but significantly smaller than those obtained for neutral clouds. We
also discuss the presence of a large population of low-metallicity clouds as
the possible origin for large metallicity variations in the local Galactic thin
disk. We find that such hypothesis does not seem compatible with: (a) what is
predicted by theoretical studies of gas mixing in galactic disks, and (b) the
models and observations on the metallicity of high-velocity clouds and its
evolution as they mix with the surrounding medium in their fall onto the
Galactic plane. We conclude that that most of the evidence favors that the
chemical composition of the interstellar medium in the solar neighborhood is
highly homogeneous.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted to be published in The Astrophysical
Journa