228 research outputs found
A Population of Metal-Poor Galaxies with ~L* Luminosities at Intermediate Redshifts
We present new spectroscopy and metallicity estimates for a sample of 15
star-forming galaxies with redshifts in the range 0.29 - 0.42. These objects
were selected in the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey via their strong
emission lines seen in red objective-prism spectra. Originally thought to be
intermediate-redshift Seyfert 2 galaxies, our new spectroscopy in the far red
has revealed these objects to be metal-poor star-forming galaxies. These
galaxies follow a luminosity-metallicity (L-Z) relation that parallels the one
defined by low-redshift galaxies, but is offset by a factor of more than ten to
lower abundances. The amount of chemical and/or luminosity evolution required
to place these galaxies on the local L-Z relation is extreme, suggesting that
these galaxies are in a very special stage of their evolution. They may be
late-forming massive systems, which would challenge the current paradigm of
galaxy formation. Alternatively, they may represent intense starbursts in
dwarf-dwarf mergers or a major infall episode of pristine gas into a
pre-existing galaxy. In any case, these objects represent an extreme stage of
galaxy evolution taking place at relatively low redshift.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; to appear in 10 April 2009 ApJ
The structure and dynamics of the AC114 galaxy cluster revisited
We present a dynamical analysis of the galaxy cluster AC114 based on a
catalogue of 524 velocities. Of these, 169 (32%) are newly obtained at ESO
(Chile) with the VLT and the VIMOS spectrograph. Data on individual galaxies
are presented and the accuracy of the measured velocities is discussed.
Dynamical properties of the cluster are derived. We obtain an improved mean
redshift value z= 0.31665 +/- 0.0008 and velocity dispersion \sigma= 1893+73-82
\kms. A large velocity dispersion within the core radius and the shape of the
infall pattern suggests that this part of the cluster is in a radial phase of
relaxation with a very elongated radial filament spanning 12000 \kms. A radial
foreground structure is detected within the central 0.5/h Mpc radius,
recognizable as a redshift group at the same central redshift value. We analyze
the color distribution for this archetype Butcher-Oemler galaxy cluster and
identify the separate red and blue galaxy sequences. The latter subset contains
44% of confirmed members of the cluster, reaching magnitudes as faint as R_{f}=
21.1 (1.0 magnitude fainter than previous studies). We derive a mass M_{200}=
(4.3 \pm 0.7) x 10^15 Msun/h. In a subsequent paper we will utilize the
spectral data presented here to explore the mass-metallicity relation for this
intermediate redshift cluster.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Detection of an Optical Counterpart to the ALFALFA Ultra-compact High Velocity Cloud AGC 249525
We report on the detection at 98% confidence of an optical counterpart to
AGC 249525, an Ultra-Compact High Velocity Cloud (UCHVC) discovered by the
ALFALFA blind neutral hydrogen survey. UCHVCs are compact, isolated HI clouds
with properties consistent with their being nearby low-mass galaxies, but
without identified counterparts in extant optical surveys. Analysis of the
resolved stellar sources in deep - and -band imaging from the WIYN pODI
camera reveals a clustering of possible Red Giant Branch stars associated with
AGC 249525 at a distance of 1.640.45 Mpc. Matching our optical detection
with the HI synthesis map of AGC 249525 from Adams et al. (2016) shows that the
stellar overdensity is exactly coincident with the highest-density HI contour
from that study. Combining our optical photometry and the HI properties of this
object yields an absolute magnitude of , a stellar
mass between and , and an HI to stellar mass ratio between 9 and 144. This object has
stellar properties within the observed range of gas-poor Ultra-Faint Dwarfs in
the Local Group, but is gas-dominated.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; accepted to ApJ
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