Massive star cluster formation and evolution in tidal dwarf galaxies

Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics. © 2019 ESOThe formation of globular clusters remains an open debate. Dwarf starburst galaxies are efficient at forming young massive clusters with similar masses as globular clusters and may hold the key to understanding their formation. We study star cluster formation in a tidal debris - including the vicinity of three tidal dwarf galaxies - in a massive gas dominated collisional ring around NGC~5291. These dwarfs have physical parameters which differ significantly from local starbursting dwarfs. They are gas-rich, highly turbulent, have a gas metallicity already enriched up to half-solar, and are expected to be free of dark matter. The aim is to study massive star cluster formation in this as yet unexplored type of environment. We use imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope using broadband filters covering the wavelength range from the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared. We determine the masses and ages of the cluster candidates by using the spectral energy distribution-fitting code CIGALE, carefully considering age-extinction degeneracy effects on the estimation of the physical parameters. We find that the tidal dwarf galaxies in the ring of NGC 5291 are forming star clusters with an average efficiency of $\sim40\%$, comparable to blue compact dwarf galaxies. We also find massive star clusters for which the photometry suggests that they were formed at the very birth of the tidal dwarf galaxies and have survived for several hundred million years. Therefore our study shows that extended tidal dwarf galaxies and compact clusters may be formed simultaneously. In the specific case observed here, the young star clusters are not massive enough to survive for a Hubble time. However one may speculate that similar objects at higher redshift, with higher star formation rate, might form some of the long lived globular clusters.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

The dust-star interplay in late-type galaxies at z < 0.5: Forecasts for the JWST

Context. In recent years, significant growth in the amount of data available to astronomers has opened up the possibility for extensive multi-wavelength approaches. In the field of galaxy evolution, such approaches have uncovered fundamental correlations, linking the dust component of a galaxy to its star formation rate (SFR). Despite these achievements, the relation between the SFR and the dust is still challenging, with uncertainties related to the physical mechanisms linking the two. Aims: In this paper, we re-examine these correlations, paying specific attention to the intrinsic properties of the dust. Our goal is to investigate the origin of the observed scatter in low-redshift galaxies, and the ability of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to explore such relations in the early Universe. Methods: We defined a sample of about 800 normal star-forming galaxies with photometries in the range of 0.15 Results: Dust luminosity (Ld) and SFR show a strong correlation, but for SFR ⊙ yr−1, the correlation scatter increases dramatically. We show that selection based on the fraction of ultraviolet (UV) emission absorbed by dust, that is, the UV extinction, greatly reduces the data dispersion. Dust masses (Md) and SFR show a weaker correlation, with a larger scatter due to the interstellar radiation field produced by stars during late evolutionary stages, which shifts the positions of the galaxies in the dust mass-SFR plane. At z = 2, more than 60% of the galaxies in the sample are detected with F770, F1000, F1280, F1500, and F1800. At higher redshifts, the detection decreases, and only 45% of z = 8 galaxies are detected with two filters. Reproducing the expected sensitivity of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey and classifying galaxies according to their SFR and stellar mass (M*), we investigated the MIRI detection rate as a function of the physical properties of the galaxies. Fifty percent of the objects with SFR ∼ 1 M⊙ yr−1 at z = 6 are detected with F770, which decreases to 20% at z = 8. For such galaxies, only 5% of the subsample will be detected at 5σ with F770 and F1000 at z = 8, and only 10% with F770, F1000, and F1280 at z = 6. For galaxies with higher SFR, detection with these three filters will be possible up to z = 6 in ∼60% of the subsample. Conclusions: The link between dust and star formation is complex, and many aspects remain to be fully understood. The scatter between SFR and dust mass, and SFR and luminosity, decreases significantly when the analysis includes dust properties. In this context, the JWST will revolutionise the field, allowing investigation of the dust-star interplay well within the epoch of reionisation

Measuring Galaxy Star Formation Rates From Integrated Photometry: Insights from Color-Magnitude Diagrams of Resolved Stars

We use empirical star formation histories (SFHs), measured from HST-based resolved star color-magnitude diagrams, as input into population synthesis codes to model the broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of ~50 nearby dwarf galaxies (6.5 < log M/M_* < 8.5, with metallicities ~10% solar). In the presence of realistic SFHs, we compare the modeled and observed SEDs from the ultraviolet (UV) through near-infrared (NIR) and assess the reliability of widely used UV-based star formation rate (SFR) indicators. In the FUV through i bands, we find that the observed and modeled SEDs are in excellent agreement. In the Spitzer 3.6micron and 4.5micron bands, we find that modeled SEDs systematically over-predict observed luminosities by up to ~0.2 dex, depending on treatment of the TP-AGB stars in the synthesis models. We assess the reliability of UV luminosity as a SFR indicator, in light of independently constrained SFHs. We find that fluctuations in the SFHs alone can cause factor of ~2 variations in the UV luminosities relative to the assumption of a constant SFH over the past 100 Myr. These variations are not strongly correlated with UV-optical colors, implying that correcting UV-based SFRs for the effects of realistic SFHs is difficult using only the broadband SED. Additionally, for this diverse sample of galaxies, we find that stars older than 100 Myr can contribute from <5% to100% of the present day UV luminosity, highlighting the challenges in defining a characteristic star formation timescale associated with UV emission. We do find a relationship between UV emission timescale and broadband UV-optical color, though it is different than predictions based on exponentially declining SFH models. Our findings have significant implications for the comparison of UV-based SFRs across low-metallicity populations with diverse SFHs.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, ApJ accepte

The Origins of [CII] Emission in Local Star-forming Galaxies

The [CII] 158um fine-structure line is the brightest emission line observed in local star-forming galaxies. As a major coolant of the gas-phase interstellar medium, [CII] balances the heating, including that due to far-ultraviolet photons, which heat the gas via the photoelectric effect. However, the origin of [CII] emission remains unclear, because C+ can be found in multiple phases of the interstellar medium. Here we measure the fractions of [CII] emission originating in the ionized and neutral gas phases of a sample of nearby galaxies. We use the [NII] 205um fine-structure line to trace the ionized medium, thereby eliminating the strong density dependence that exists in the ratio of [CII]/[NII] 122um. Using the FIR [CII] and [NII] emission detected by the KINGFISH and Beyond the Peak Herschel programs, we show that 60-80% of [CII] emission originates from neutral gas. We find that the fraction of [CII] originating in the neutral medium has a weak dependence on dust temperature and the surface density of star formation, and a stronger dependence on the gas-phase metallicity. In metal-rich environments, the relatively cooler ionized gas makes substantially larger contributions to total [CII] emission than at low abundance, contrary to prior expectations. Approximate calibrations of this metallicity trend are provided.Comment: 8 pages, accepted for publication in Ap

The applicability of FIR fine-structure lines as Star Formation Rate tracers over wide ranges of metallicities and galaxy types

We analyze the applicability of far-infrared fine-structure lines [CII] 158 micron, [OI] 63 micron and [OIII] 88 micron to reliably trace the star formation rate (SFR) in a sample of low-metallicity dwarf galaxies from the Herschel Dwarf Galaxy Survey and compare with a broad sample of galaxies of various types and metallicities in the literature. We study the trends and scatter in the relation between the SFR (as traced by GALEX FUV and MIPS 24 micron) and far-infrared line emission, on spatially resolved and global galaxy scales, in dwarf galaxies. We assemble far-infrared line measurements from the literature and infer whether the far-infrared lines can probe the SFR (as traced by the total-infrared luminosity) in a variety of galaxy populations. In metal-poor dwarfs, the [OI] and [OIII] lines show the strongest correlation with the SFR with an uncertainty on the SFR estimates better than a factor of 2, while the link between [CII] emission and the SFR is more dispersed (uncertainty factor of 2.6). The increased scatter in the SFR-L([CII]) relation towards low metal abundances, warm dust temperatures, large filling factors of diffuse, highly ionized gas suggests that other cooling lines start to dominate depending on the density and ionization state of the gas. For the literature sample, we evaluate the correlations for a number of different galaxy populations. The [CII] and [OI] lines are considered to be reliable SFR tracers in starburst galaxies, recovering the star formation activity within an uncertainty of factor 2. [Abridged]Comment: 35 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&A on May 7th 201

The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey XIX. Physical properties of low luminosity FIR sources at z < 0.5

Context. The star formation rate is a crucial parameter for the investigation galaxy evolution. At low redshift the cosmic star formation rate density declines smoothly, and massive active galaxies become passive, reducing their star formation activity. This implies that the bulk of the star formation rate density at low redshift is mainly driven by low mass objects. Aims. We investigate the properties of a sample of low luminosity far-infrared sources selected at 250 μm. We have collected data from ultraviolet to far-infrared in order to perform a multiwavelengths analysis. The main goal is to investigate the correlation between star formation rate, stellar mass, and dust mass for a galaxy population with a wide range in dust content and stellar mass, including the low mass regime that most probably dominates the star formation rate density at low redshift. Methods. We define a main sample of ~800 sources with full spectral energy distribution coverage between 0.15 <λ< 500 μm and an extended sample with ~5000 sources in which we remove the constraints on the ultraviolet and near-infrared bands. We analyze both samples with two different spectral energy distribution fitting methods: MAGPHYS and CIGALE, which interpret a galaxy spectral energy distribution as a combination of different simple stellar population libraries and dust emission templates. Results. In the star formation rate versus stellar mass plane our samples occupy a region included between local spirals and higher redshift star forming galaxies. These galaxies represent the population that at z 3 × 1010 M⊙) do not lie on the main sequence, but show a small offset as a consequence of the decreased star formation. Low mass galaxies (M∗< 1 × 1010 M⊙) settle in the main sequence with star formation rate and stellar mass consistent with local spirals. Conclusions. Deep Herschel data allow the identification of a mixed galaxy population with galaxies still in an assembly phase or galaxies at the beginning of their passive evolution. We find that the dust luminosity is the parameter that allow us to discriminate between these two galaxy populations. The median spectral energy distribution shows that even at low star formation rate our galaxy sample has a higher mid-infrared emission than previously predicted