493 research outputs found
Primordial 4He abundance: a determination based on the largest sample of HII regions with a methodology tested on model HII regions
We verified the validity of the empirical method to derive the 4He abundance
used in our previous papers by applying it to CLOUDY (v13.01) models. Using
newly published HeI emissivities, for which we present convenient fits as well
as the output CLOUDY case B hydrogen and HeI line intensities, we found that
the empirical method is able to reproduce the input CLOUDY 4He abundance with
an accuracy of better than 1%. The CLOUDY output data also allowed us to derive
the non-recombination contribution to the intensities of the strongest Balmer
hydrogen Halpha, Hbeta, Hgamma, and Hdelta emission lines and the ionisation
correction factors for He. With these improvements we used our updated
empirical method to derive the 4He abundances and to test corrections for
several systematic effects in a sample of 1610 spectra of low-metallicity
extragalactic HII regions, the largest sample used so far. From this sample we
extracted a subsample of 111 HII regions with Hbeta equivalent width EW(Hbeta)
> 150A, with excitation parameter x = O^{2+}/O > 0.8, and with helium mass
fraction Y derived with an accuracy better than 3%. With this subsample we
derived the primordial 4He mass fraction Yp = 0.254+/-0.003 from linear
regression Y-O/H. The derived value of Yp is higher at the 68% confidence level
(CL) than that predicted by the standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN) model,
possibly implying the existence of different types of neutrino species in
addition to the three known types of active neutrinos. Using the most recently
derived primordial abundances D/H = (2.60+/-0.12)x10^{-5} and Yp =
0.254+/-0.003 and the chi^2 technique, we found that the best agreement between
abundances of these light elements is achieved in a cosmological model with
baryon mass density Omegab h^2 = 0.0234+/-0.0019 (68% CL) and an effective
number of the neutrino species Neff = 3.51+/-0.35 (68% CL).Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
A new determination of the primordial He abundance using the HeI 10830A emission line: cosmological implications
We present near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the high-intensity HeI
10830 emission line in 45 low-metallicity HII regions. We combined these NIR
data with spectroscopic data in the optical range to derive the primordial He
abundance. The use of the HeI 10830A line, the intensity of which is very
sensitive to the density of the HII region, greatly improves the determination
of the physical conditions in the He^+ zone. This results in a considerably
tighter Y - O/H linear regression compared to all previous studies. We
extracted a final sample of 28 HII regions with Hbeta equivalent width
EW(Hbeta)>150A, excitation parameter O^2+/O>0.8, and with helium mass fraction
Y derived with an accuracy better than 3%. With this final sample we derived a
primordial He mass fraction Yp = 0.2551+/-0.0022. The derived value of Yp is
higher than the one predicted by the standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN)
model. Using our derived Yp together with D/H = (2.53+/-0.04)x10^-5, and the
chi^2 technique, we found that the best agreement between these light element
abundances is achieved in a cosmological model with a baryon mass density
Omega_b h^2 = 0.0240+/-0.0017 (68% CL), +/-0.0028 (95.4% CL), +/-0.0034 (99%
CL) and an effective number of neutrino species Neff = 3.58+/-0.25 (68% CL),
+/-0.40 (95.4% CL), +/-0.50 (99% CL). A non-standard value of Neff is preferred
at the 99% CL, implying the possible existence of additional types of neutrino
species.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Society. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1308.210
LBT observations of compact star-forming galaxies with extremely high [OIII]/[OII] flux ratios: HeI emission-line ratios as diagnostics of Lyman continuum leakage
We present Large Binocular Telescope spectrophotometric observations of five
low-redshift (z<0.070) compact star-forming galaxies (CSFGs) with extremely
high emission-line ratios O32 = [OIII]5007/[OII]3727, ranging from 23 to 43.
Galaxies with such high O32 are thought to be promising candidates for leaking
large amounts of Lyman continuum (LyC) radiation and, at high redshifts, for
contributing to the reionization of the Universe. The equivalent widths
EW(Hbeta) of the Hbeta emission line in the studied galaxies are very high,
~350-520A, indicating very young ages for the star formation bursts, <3 Myr.
All galaxies are characterized by low oxygen abundances 12+logO/H = 7.46 - 7.79
and low masses Mstar~10^6-10^7 Msun, much lower than the Mstar for known
low-redshift LyC leaking galaxies, but probably more typical of the
hypothetical population of low-luminosity dwarf LyC leakers at high redshifts.
A broad Halpha emission line is detected in the spectra of all CSFGs, possibly
related to expansion motions of supernova remnants. Such rapid ionized gas
motions would facilitate the escape of the resonant Ly emission from
the galaxy. We show that high O32 may not be a sufficient condition for LyC
leakage and propose new diagnostics based on the HeI 3889/6678 and 7065/6678
emission-line flux ratios. Using these diagnostics we find that three CSFGs in
our sample are likely to have density-bounded HII regions and are thus leaking
large amounts of LyC radiation. The amount of leaking LyC radiation is probably
much lower in the other two CSFGs.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Societ
SBS 0335-052E+W: deep VLT/FORS+UVES spectroscopy of the pair of the lowest-metallicity blue compact dwarf galaxies
(abridged) We present deep archival VLT/FORS1+UVES spectroscopic observations
of the system of two blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies SBS 0335-052E and SBS
0335-052W. Our aim is to derive element abundances in different HII regions of
this unique system of galaxies and to study spatial abundance variations. We
determine abundances of helium, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, sulfur, chlorine, argon
and iron. The oxygen abundance in the brighter eastern galaxy varies in the
range 7.11 to 7.32 in different HII regions supporting previous findings and
suggesting the presence of oxygen abundance variations on spatial scales of
~1-2 kpc. The oxygen abundance in the brightest region No.1 of SBS 0335-052W is
7.22+/-0.07, consistent with previous determinations.Three other HII regions
are much more metal-poor with an unprecedently low oxygen abundance of
12+logO/H=7.01+/-0.07 (region No.2), 6.98+/-0.06 (region No.3), and 6.86+/-0.14
(region No.4). These are the lowest oxygen abundances ever derived in
emission-line galaxies. Helium abundances derived for the brightest HII regions
of both galaxies are mutually consistent. We derive weighted mean He mass
fractions of 0.2485+/-0.0012 and 0.2514+/-0.0012 for two different sets of HeI
emissivities. The N/O abundance ratio in both galaxies is slightly higher than
that derived for other BCDs with 12+logO/H<7.6. This implies that the N/O in
extremely metal-deficient galaxies could increase with decreasing metallicity.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, accepted for pulication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
On the universality of luminosity-metallicity and mass-metallicity relations for compact star-forming galaxies at redshifts 0 < z < 3
We study relations between global characteristics of low-redshift (0 < z < 1)
compact star-forming galaxies, including absolute optical magnitudes, Hbeta
emission-line luminosities (or equivalently star-formation rates), stellar
masses, and oxygen abundances. The sample consists of 5182 galaxies with
high-excitation HII regions selected from the SDSS DR7 and SDSS/BOSS DR10
surveys adopting a criterion [OIII]4959/Hbeta > 1. These data were combined
with the corresponding data for high-redshift (2 < z < 3) star-forming
galaxies. We find that in all diagrams low-z and high-z star-forming galaxies
are closely related indicating a very weak dependence of metallicity on stellar
mass, redshift, and star-formation rate. This finding argues in favour of the
universal character of the global relations for compact star-forming galaxies
with high-excitation HII regions over redshifts 0 < z < 3.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Searching for metal-deficient emission-line galaxy candidates: the final sample of the SDSS DR12 galaxies
We present a spectroscopic study of metal-deficient dwarf galaxy candidates,
selected from the SDSS DR12. The oxygen abundances were derived using the
direct method in galaxies with the electron temperature-sensitive emission line
[OIII]4363A measured with an accuracy better than 30%. The oxygen abundances
for the remaining galaxies with larger uncertainties of the [OIII]4363A line
fluxes were calculated using a strong-line semi-empirical method by Izotov and
Thuan. The resulting sample consists of 287 low-metallicity candidates with
oxygen abundances below 12+logO/H=7.65 including 23 extremely metal-deficient
(XMD) candidates with 12+log O/H<7.35. Ten out of sixteen XMDs known so far (or
~60%) have been discovered by our team using the direct method. Three XMDs were
found in the present study. We study relations between global parameters of
low-metallicity galaxies, including absolute optical magnitudes, Hbeta
luminosities (or equivalently star formation rates), stellar masses,
mid-infrared colours, and oxygen abundances. Low-metallicity and XMD galaxies
strongly deviate to lower metallicities in L-Z, L(Hbeta)-Z and Mstar-Z diagrams
than in relations obtained for large samples of low-redshift, star-forming
galaxies with non-restricted metallicities. These less chemically evolved
galaxies with stellar masses ~10^6-10^8Msun, Hbeta luminosities ~10^38-10^41
erg/s, SFR~0.01-1.0Msun/yr, and sSFR~50 Gyr^-1 have physical conditions which
may be characteristic of high-redshift low-mass star-forming galaxies which are
still awaiting discovery.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
New candidates for extremely metal-poor emission-line galaxies in the SDSS/BOSS DR10
We present a spectroscopic study of eight extremely low-metallicity candidate
emission-line galaxies with oxygen abundances possibly below 12 +log O/H =
7.35. These galaxies were selected from Data Release 10 of the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey/Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS/BOSS DR10). We will
call these extremely metal-deficient galaxies XMD galaxies. The electron
temperature-sensitive emission line [O~{\sc iii}] 4363 is detected in
three galaxies and marginally detected in two galaxies, allowing for abundance
determination by a "direct" method. Because of large uncertainties in the [O
{\sc iii}]4363\AA\ line fluxes, we also calculated oxygen abundance in
these galaxies together with the remaining three galaxies using a strong-line
semi-empirical method. This method gives oxygen abundances higher than 7.35 for
three galaxies with detected [O {\sc iii}]4363\AA\ line and lower than
7.35 for the remaining five objects of the sample. The newly-discovered
galaxies represent excellent targets for follow-up spectroscopic observations
with the largest telescopes to improve the oxygen abundance determination and
to increase the number of these very rare low-metallicity objects. The extreme
location of the most massive and luminous XMD galaxies and XMD candidates in
the stellar mass-metallicity diagram implies that these galaxies may be genuine
young objects.
With stellar masses of up to 10 - 10, the galaxies
are not chemically enriched and strongly deviate to lower metallicity as
compared to the relation obtained for a large sample of low-redshift,
star-forming galaxies.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysic
VLT/X-shooter observations of blue compact galaxies Haro 11 and ESO 338-IG 004
(abridged) Strongly star-forming galaxies of subsolar metallicities are
typical of the high-redshift universe. Here we therefore provide accurate data
for two low-z analogs, the well-known low-metallicity emission-line galaxies
Haro 11 and ESO 338-IG 004. On the basis of Very Large Telescope/X-shooter
spectroscopic observations in the wavelength range 3000-24000\AA, we use
standard direct methods to derive physical conditions and element abundances.
Furthermore, we use X-shooter data together with Spitzer observations in the
mid-infrared range to attempt to find hidden star formation. We derive
interstellar oxygen abundances of 12 + log O/H = 8.33+/-0.01, 8.10+/-0.04, and
7.89+/-0.01 in the two HII regions B and C of Haro 11 and in ESO 338-IG 004,
respectively. The observed fluxes of the hydrogen lines correspond to the
theoretical recombination values after correction for extinction with a single
value of the extinction coefficient C(Hbeta) across the entire wavelength range
from the near-ultraviolet to the NIR and mid-infrared for each of the studied
HII regions. Therefore there are no emission-line regions contributing to the
line emission in the NIR range, which are hidden in the optical range. The
agreement between the extinction-corrected and CLOUDY-predicted fluxes implies
that a HII region model including only stellar photoionisation is able to
account for the observed fluxes, in both the optical and NIR ranges. All
observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) can be reproduced quite well
across the whole wavelength range by model SEDs except for Haro 11B, where
there is a continuum flux excess at wavelengths >1.6mum. It is possible that
one or more red supergiant stars are responsible for the NIR flux excess in
Haro 11B. We find evidence of a luminous blue variable (LBV) star in Haro 11C.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
The Mg II 2797, 2803 emission in low-metallicity star-forming galaxies from the SDSS
We present 65 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra of 62 star-forming
galaxies with oxygen abundances 12 + logO/H ~ 7.5-8.4. Redshifts of selected
galaxies are in the range z~0.36-0.70. This allows us to detect the redshifted
MgII 2797,2803 emission lines. Our aim is to use these lines for the magnesium
abundance determination. The MgII emission was detected in ~2/3 of the
galaxies. We find that the MgII 2797 emission-line intensity follows a trend
with the excitation parameter x= O^{2+}/O that is similar to that predicted by
CLOUDY photoionised HII region models, suggesting a nebular origin of MgII
emission. The Mg/O abundance ratio is lower by a factor ~2 than the solar
ratio. This is probably the combined effect of interstellar MgII absorption and
depletion of Mg onto dust. However, the effect of dust depletion in selected
galaxies, if present, is small, by a factor of ~2 lower than that of iron.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 14 pages, 8
figure
J0811+4730: the most metal-poor star-forming dwarf galaxy known
We report the discovery of the most metal-poor dwarf star-forming galaxy
(SFG) known to date, J0811+4730. This galaxy, at a redshift z=0.04444, has a
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) g-band absolute magnitude M_g = -15.41 mag. It
was selected by inspecting the spectroscopic data base in the Data Release 13
(DR13) of the SDSS. LBT/MODS spectroscopic observations reveal its oxygen
abundance to be 12 + log O/H = 6.98 +/- 0.02, the lowest ever observed for a
SFG. J0811+4730 strongly deviates from the main-sequence defined by SFGs in the
emission-line diagnostic diagrams and the metallicity - luminosity diagram.
These differences are caused mainly by the extremely low oxygen abundance in
J08114730, which is ~10 times lower than that in main-sequence SFGs with
similar luminosities. By fitting the spectral energy distributions of the SDSS
and LBT spectra, we derive a stellar mass of M* = 10^6.24 - 10^6.29 Msun
(statistical uncertainties only), and we find that a considerable fraction of
the galaxy stellar mass was formed during the most recent burst of star
formation.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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