529 research outputs found
Ionization processes in a local analogue of distant clumpy galaxies: VLT MUSE IFU spectroscopy and FORS deep images of the TDG NGC 5291N
We present IFU observations with MUSE@VLT and deep imaging with FORS@VLT of a
dwarf galaxy recently formed within the giant collisional HI ring surrounding
NGC 5291. This TDG-like object has the characteristics of typical z=1-2
gas-rich spiral galaxies: a high gas fraction, a rather turbulent clumpy ISM,
the absence of an old stellar population, a moderate metallicity and star
formation efficiency. The MUSE spectra allow us to determine the physical
conditions within the various complex substructures revealed by the deep
optical images, and to scrutinize at unprecedented spatial resolution the
ionization processes at play in this specific medium. Starburst age, extinction
and metallicity maps of the TDG and surrounding regions were determined using
the strong emission lines Hbeta, [OIII], [OI], [NII], Halpha and [SII] combined
with empirical diagnostics. Discrimination between different ionization
mechanisms was made using BPT--like diagrams and shock plus photoionization
models. Globally, the physical conditions within the star--forming regions are
homogeneous, with in particular an uniform half-solar oxygen abundance. At
small scales, the derived extinction map shows narrow dust lanes. Regions with
atypically strong [OI] emission line immediately surround the TDG. The [OI] /
Halpha ratio cannot be easily accounted for by photoionization by young stars
or shock models. At larger distances from the main star--forming clumps, a
faint diffuse blue continuum emission is observed, both with the deep FORS
images and MUSE data. It does not have a clear counterpart in the UV regime
probed by GALEX. A stacked spectrum towards this region does not exhibit any
emission line, excluding faint levels of star formation, nor stellar absorption
lines that might have revealed the presence of old stars. Several hypotheses
are discussed for the origin of these intriguing features.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Star Formation in Collision Debris: Insights from the modeling of their Spectral Energy Distribution
During galaxy-galaxy interactions, massive gas clouds can be injected into
the intergalactic medium which in turn become gravitationally bound, collapse
and form stars, star clusters or even dwarf galaxies. The objects resulting
from this process are both "pristine", as they are forming their first
generation of stars, and chemically evolved because the metallicity inherited
from their parent galaxies is high. Such characteristics make them particularly
interesting laboratories to study star formation. After having investigated
their star-forming properties, we use photospheric, nebular and dust modeling
to analyze here their spectral energy distribution (SED) from the
far-ultraviolet to the mid-infrared regime for a sample of 7 star-forming
regions. Our analysis confirms that the intergalactic star forming regions in
Stephan's Quintet, around Arp 105, and NGC 5291, appear devoid of stellar
populations older than 10^9 years. We also find an excess of light in the
near-infrared regime (from 2 to 4.5 microns) which cannot be attributed to
stellar photospheric or nebular contributions. This excess is correlated with
the star formation rate intensity suggesting that it is probably due to
emission by very small grains fluctuating in temperature as well as the
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) line at 3.3 micron. Comparing the
attenuation via the Balmer decrement to the mid-infrared emission allows us to
check the reliability of the attenuation estimate. It suggests the presence of
embedded star forming regions in NGC 5291 and NGC 7252. Overall the SED of
star-forming regions in collision debris (and Tidal Dwarf Galaxies) resemble
more that of dusty star-forming regions in galactic disks than to that of
typical star-forming dwarf galaxies.Comment: 22 pages, 24 figures, accepted for publication in A
Total Infrared Luminosity Estimation of Resolved and Unresolved Galaxies
The total infrared (TIR) luminosity from galaxies can be used to examine both
star formation and dust physics. We provide here new relations to estimate the
TIR luminosity from various Spitzer bands, in particular from the 8 micron and
24 micron bands. To do so, we use 45" subregions within a subsample of nearby
face-on spiral galaxies from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey
(SINGS) that have known oxygen abundances as well as integrated galaxy data
from the SINGS, the Local Volume Legacy Survey (LVL) and Engelbracht et al.
(2008) samples. Taking into account the oxygen abundances of the subregions,
the star formation rate intensity, and the relative emission of the polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons at 8 micron, the warm dust at 24 micron and the cold dust
at 70 micron and 160 micron we derive new relations to estimate the TIR
luminosity from just one or two of the Spitzer bands. We also show that the
metallicity and the star formation intensity must be taken into account when
estimating the TIR luminosity from two wave bands, especially when data
longward of 24 micron are not available.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Ultraviolet to infrared emission of z>1 galaxies: Can we derive reliable star formation rates and stellar masses?
We seek to derive star formation rates (SFR) and stellar masses (M_star) in
distant galaxies and to quantify the main uncertainties affecting their
measurement. We explore the impact of the assumptions made in their derivation
with standard calibrations or through a fitting process, as well as the impact
of the available data, focusing on the role of IR emission originating from
dust. We build a sample of galaxies with z>1, all observed from the UV to the
IR (rest frame). The data are fitted with the code CIGALE, which is also used
to build and analyse a catalogue of mock galaxies. Models with different SFHs
are introduced. We define different set of data, with or without a good
sampling of the UV range, NIR, and thermal IR data. The impact of these
different cases on the determination of M_star and SFR are analysed.
Exponentially decreasing models with a redshift formation of the stellar
population z ~8 cannot fit the data correctly. The other models fit the data
correctly at the price of unrealistically young ages when the age of the single
stellar population is taken to be a free parameter. The best fits are obtained
with two stellar populations. As long as one measurement of the dust emission
continuum is available, SFR are robustly estimated whatever the chosen model
is, including standard recipes. M_star measurement is more subject to
uncertainty, depending on the chosen model and the presence of NIR data, with
an impact on the SFR-M_star scatter plot. Conversely, when thermal IR data from
dust emission are missing, the uncertainty on SFR measurements largely exceeds
that of stellar mass. Among all physical properties investigated here, the
stellar ages are found to be the most difficult to constrain and this
uncertainty acts as a second parameter in SFR measurements and as the most
important parameter for M_star measurements.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication A&
Dust heating sources in galaxies: the case of M33 (HERM33ES)
Dust emission is one of the main windows to the physics of galaxies and to
star formation as the radiation from young, hot stars is absorbed by the dust
and reemitted at longer wavelengths. The recently launched Herschel satellite
now provides a view of dust emission in the far-infrared at an unequaled
resolution and quality up to 500 \mu m. In the context of the Herschel HERM33ES
open time key project, we are studying the moderately inclined Scd local group
galaxy M33 which is located only 840 kpc away. In this article, using Spitzer
and Herschel data ranging from 3.6 \mu m to 500 \mu m, along with HI, H\alpha\
maps, and GALEX ultraviolet data we have studied the emission of the dust at
the high spatial resolution of 150 pc. Combining Spitzer and Herschel bands, we
have provided new, inclination corrected, resolved estimators of the total
infrared brightness and of the star formation rate from any combination of
these bands. The study of the colors of the warm and cold dust populations
shows that the temperature of the former is, at high brightness, dictated by
young massive stars but, at lower brightness, heating is taken over by the
evolved populations. Conversely, the temperature of the cold dust is tightly
driven by the evolved stellar populations.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A
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Properties of compact 250 μm emission and H II regions in M 33 (HERM33ES)*
Aims. Within the framework of the HERM33ES key program, using the high resolution and sensitivity of the Herschel photometric data, we study the compact emission in the Local Group spiral galaxy M 33 to investigate the nature of the compact SPIRE emission sources. We extracted a catalogue of sources at 250 μm in order to investigate the nature of this compact emission. Taking advantage of the unprecedented Herschel resolution at these wavelengths, we also focus on a more precise study of some striking Hα shells in the northern part of the galaxy. Methods. We present a catalogue of 159 compact emission sources in M 33 identified by SExtractor in the 250 μm SPIRE band that is the one that provides the best spatial resolution. We also measured fluxes at 24 μm and Hα for those 159 extracted sources. The morphological study of the shells also benefits from a multiwavelength approach including Hα, far-ultraviolet from GALEX, and infrared from both Spitzer IRAC 8 μm and MIPS 24 μm in order to make comparisons. Results. For the 159 compact sources selected at 250 μm, we find a very strong Pearson correlation coefficient with the MIPS 24 μm emission (r24 = 0.94) and a rather strong correlation with the Hα emission, although with more scatter (rH = 0.83). The morphological study of the Hα shells shows a displacement between far-ultraviolet, Hα, and the SPIRE bands. The cool dust emission from SPIRE clearly delineates the Hα shell structures. Conclusions. The very strong link between the 250 μm compact emission and the 24 μm and Hα emissions, by recovering the star formation rate from standard recipes for H II regions, allows us to provide star formation rate calibrations based on the 250 μm compact emission alone. The different locations of the Hα and far-ultraviolet emissions with respect to the SPIRE cool dust emission leads to a dynamical age of a few Myr for the Hα shells and the associated cool dust
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