scholarly journals The young stellar population of the metal-poor galaxy NGC 6822

2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (1) ◽  
pp. 832-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia C Jones ◽  
Michael J Sharp ◽  
Megan Reiter ◽  
Alec S Hirschauer ◽  
M Meixner ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present a comprehensive study of massive young stellar objects (YSOs) in the metal-poor galaxy NGC 6822 using IRAC and MIPS data obtained from the Spitzer Space Telescope. We find over 500 new YSO candidates in seven massive star formation regions; these sources were selected using six colour–magnitude cuts. Via spectral energy distribution fitting to the data with YSO radiative transfer models we refine this list, identifying 105 high-confidence and 88 medium-confidence YSO candidates. For these sources, we constrain their evolutionary state and estimate their physical properties. The majority of our YSO candidates are massive protostars with an accreting envelope in the initial stages of formation. We fit the mass distribution of the Stage I YSOs with a Kroupa initial mass function and determine a global star formation rate of 0.039 $\mathrm{M}_{\odot } \, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. This is higher than star formation rate estimates based on integrated UV fluxes. The new YSO candidates are preferentially located in clusters which correspond to seven active high-mass star-formation regions which are strongly correlated with the 8 and 24 μm emission from PAHs and warm dust. This analysis reveals an embedded high-mass star formation region, Spitzer I, which hosts the highest number of massive YSO candidates in NGC 6822. The properties of Spitzer I suggest it is younger and more active than the other prominent H ii and star-formation regions in the galaxy.

Author(s):  
A. Katsianis ◽  
E. Tescari ◽  
J. S. B. Wyithe

AbstractThe relation between the star-formation Rate and stellar mass (M⋆) of galaxies represents a fundamental constraint on galaxy formation, and has been studied extensively both in observations and cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. However, the observed amplitude of the star-formation rate—stellar mass relation has not been successfully reproduced in simulations, indicating either that the halo accretion history and baryonic physics are poorly understood/modelled or that observations contain biases. In this paper, we examine the evolution of the SFR −M⋆relation ofz~ 1–4 galaxies and display the inconsistency between observed relations that are obtained using different techniques. We employ cosmological hydrodynamic simulations from various groups which are tuned to reproduce a range of observables and compare these with a range of observed SFR −M⋆relations. We find that numerical results are consistent with observations that use Spectral Energy Distribution techniques to estimate star-formation rates, dust corrections, and stellar masses. On the contrary, simulations are not able to reproduce results that were obtained by combining only UV and IR luminosities (UV+IR). These imply star-formation rates at a fixed stellar mass that are larger almost by a factor of 5 than those of Spectral Energy Distribution measurements forz~ 1.5–4. Forz< 1.5, the results from simulations, Spectral Energy Distribution fitting techniques and IR+UV conversion agree well. We find that surveys that preferably select star-forming galaxies (e.g. by adopting Lyman-break or blue selection) typically predict a larger median/average star-formation rate at a fixed stellar mass especially for high mass objects, with respect to mass selected samples and hydrodynamic simulations. Furthermore, we find remarkable agreement between the numerical results from various authors who have employed different cosmological codes and run simulations with different resolutions. This is interesting for two reasons. (A) simulations can produce realistic populations of galaxies within representative cosmological volumes even at relatively modest resolutions. (B) It is likely that current numerical codes that rely on similar subgrid multiphase interstellar medium models and are tuned to reproduce statistical properties of galaxies, produce similar results for the SFR −M⋆relation by construction, regardless of resolution, box size and, to some extent, the adopted feedback prescriptions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S352) ◽  
pp. 194-198
Author(s):  
Christina C. Williams

AbstractWe discuss the serendipitous discovery of a dusty high-redshift galaxy in a small (8 arcmin2) ALMA 3-mm survey Williams et al. (2019). The galaxy was previously unknown and is absent from existing multi-wavelength catalogs (“ALMA-only”). Using the ALMA position as prior, we perform forced deblended photometry to constrain its spectral energy distribution. The spectral energy distribution is well described by a massive (M* = 1010.8 M⊙) and highly obscured (AV ∼ 4) galaxy at redshift z = 5.5 ± 1.1 with star formation rate ∼ 300 M⊙yr−1. Our small survey area implies an uncertain but large contribution to the cosmic star formation rate density, similar to the contribution from all ultraviolet-selected galaxies combined at this redshift. This galaxy likely traces an abundant population of massive galaxies absent from current samples of infrared-selected or sub-millimeter galaxies, but with larger space densities, higher duty cycles, and significant contribution to the cosmic star-formation rate and stellar mass densities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. A112 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Bianchi ◽  
P. De Vis ◽  
S. Viaene ◽  
A. Nersesian ◽  
A. V. Mosenkov ◽  
...  

Aims. We aim to study the fraction of stellar radiation absorbed by dust, fabs, in 814 galaxies of different morphological types. The targets constitute the vast majority (93%) of the DustPedia sample, including almost all large (optical diameter larger than 1′), nearby (v ≤ 3000 km s−1) galaxies observed with the Herschel Space Observatory. Methods. For each object, we modelled the spectral energy distribution from the ultraviolet to the sub-millimetre using the dedicated, aperture-matched DustPedia photometry and the Code Investigating GALaxy Evolution (CIGALE). The value of fabs was obtained from the total luminosity emitted by dust and from the bolometric luminosity, which are estimated by the fit. Results. On average, 19% of the stellar radiation is absorbed by dust in DustPedia galaxies. The fraction rises to 25% if only late-type galaxies are considered. The dependence of fabs on morphology, showing a peak for Sb-Sc galaxies, is weak; it reflects a stronger, yet broad, positive correlation with the bolometric luminosity, which is identified for late-type, disk-dominated, high-specific-star-formation rate, gas-rich objects. We find no variation of fabs with inclination, at odds with radiative transfer models of edge-on galaxies. These results call for a self-consistent modelling of the evolution of the dust mass and geometry along the build-up of the stellar content. We also provide template spectral energy distributions in bins of morphology and luminosity and study the variation of fabs with stellar mass and specific star-formation rate. We confirm that the local Universe is missing the high fabs, luminous and actively star-forming objects necessary to explain the energy budget in observations of the extragalactic background light.


1991 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-90
Author(s):  
Stuart D. Ryder ◽  
Michael A. Dopita

AbstractSome initial results of a flux-calibrated CCD Hα imaging program of bright, nearby southern spiral galaxies are presented. Very few southern hemisphere spiral galaxies have ever been completely imaged in Hα, let alone with a CCD. This survey (which mainly uses the MSSSO 1.0-m reflector with an f/3.5 focal reducer) will, when combined with spectrophotometry of the H II regions thus revealed, allow us to trace the chemical evolution of each galaxy. Furthermore, since the absolute Hα flux is a reliable measure of the high-mass star formation rate in a galaxy, such observational data will permit us to test the predictions of the various star formation theories.


2017 ◽  
Vol 836 (2) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. S. Tabatabaei ◽  
E. Schinnerer ◽  
M. Krause ◽  
G. Dumas ◽  
S. Meidt ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Christian Binggeli ◽  
Erik Zackrisson ◽  
Xiangcheng Ma ◽  
Akio K Inoue ◽  
Anton Vikaeus ◽  
...  

Abstract Photometric observations of the spectroscopically confirmed z ≈ 9.1 galaxy MACS1149-JD1 have indicated the presence of a prominent Balmer break in its spectral energy distribution, which may be interpreted as due to very large fluctuations in its past star formation activity. In this paper, we investigate to what extent contemporary simulations of high-redshift galaxies produce star formation rate variations sufficiently large to reproduce the observed Balmer break of MACS1149-JD1. We find that several independent galaxy simulations are unable to account for Balmer breaks of the inferred size, suggesting that MACS1149-JD1 either must be a very rare type of object or that our simulations are missing some key ingredient. We present predictions of spectroscopic Balmer break strength distributions for z ≈ 7–9 galaxies that may be tested through observations with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope and also discuss the impact that various assumptions on dust reddening, Lyman continuum leakage and deviations from a standard stellar initial mass function would have on the results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 492 (4) ◽  
pp. 5592-5606 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Katsianis ◽  
V Gonzalez ◽  
D Barrientos ◽  
X Yang ◽  
C D P Lagos ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT There is a severe tension between the observed star formation rate (SFR)–stellar mass (M⋆) relations reported by different authors at z = 1–4. In addition, the observations have not been successfully reproduced by state-of-the-art cosmological simulations that tend to predict a factor of 2–4 smaller SFRs at a fixed M⋆. We examine the evolution of the SFR–M⋆ relation of z = 1–4 galaxies using the skirt simulated spectral energy distributions of galaxies sampled from the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments simulations. We derive SFRs and stellar masses by mimicking different observational techniques. We find that the tension between observed and simulated SFR–M⋆ relations is largely alleviated if similar methods are used to infer the galaxy properties. We find that relations relying on infrared wavelengths (e.g. 24 ${\rm \, \mu m}$, MIPS – 24, 70, and 160 ${\rm \, \mu m}$ or SPIRE – 250, 350, and 500 ${\rm \, \mu m}$) have SFRs that exceed the intrinsic relation by 0.5 dex. Relations that rely on the spectral energy distribution fitting technique underpredict the SFRs at a fixed stellar mass by −0.5 dex at z ∼ 4 but overpredict the measurements by 0.3 dex at z ∼ 1. Relations relying on dust-corrected rest-frame ultraviolet luminosities, are flatter since they overpredict/underpredict SFRs for low/high star-forming objects and yield deviations from the intrinsic relation from 0.10 to −0.13 dex at z ∼ 4. We suggest that the severe tension between different observational studies can be broadly explained by the fact that different groups employ different techniques to infer their SFRs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A28 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Zappacosta ◽  
E. Piconcelli ◽  
F. Duras ◽  
C. Vignali ◽  
R. Valiante ◽  
...  

We present a 155 ks NuSTAR observation of the z ∼ 2 hot dust-obscured galaxy (hot DOG) W1835+4355. We extracted spectra from the two NuSTAR detectors and analyzed them jointly with the archival XMM-Newton PN and MOS spectra. We performed a spectroscopic analysis based on both phenomenological and physically motivated models employing toroidal and spherical geometry for the obscurer. In all the modelings, the source exhibits a Compton-thick column density NH ≳ 1024 cm−2, a 2–10 keV luminosity L2−10 ≈ 2 × 1045 erg s−1, and a prominent soft excess (∼5–10% of the primary radiative output), which translates into a luminosity ∼1044 erg s−1. We modeled the spectral energy distribution from 1.6 to 850 μm using a clumpy two-phase dusty torus model plus a modified blackbody to account for emission powered by star formation in the far-infrared. We employed several geometrical configurations consistent with those applied in the X-ray analysis. In all cases we obtained a bolometric luminosity Lbol ≈ 3–5 × 1047 erg s−1, which confirms the hyperluminous nature of this active galactic nucleus. Finally, we estimate a prodigious star formation rate of ∼3000 M⊙ yr−1, which is consistent with the rates inferred for z ≈ 2–4 hyperluminous type I quasars. The heavily obscured nature, together with Lbol, the ratio of X-ray to mid-infrared luminosity, the rest-frame optical morphology, and the host star formation rate are indicative of its evolutionary stage. We can interpret this as a late-stage merger event in the transitional, dust-enshrouded, evolutionary phase eventually leading to an optically bright AGN.


2018 ◽  
Vol 609 ◽  
pp. A109 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Nandakumar ◽  
M. Schultheis ◽  
A. Feldmeier-Krause ◽  
R. Schödel ◽  
N. Neumayer ◽  
...  

Context. The central molecular zone (CMZ) is a ~200 pc region around the Galactic centre. The study of star formation in the central part of the Milky Way is of great interest as it provides a template for the closest galactic nuclei. Aims. We present a spectroscopic follow-up of photometrically selected young stellar object (YSO) candidates in the CMZ of the Galactic centre. Our goal is to quantify the contamination of this YSO sample by reddened giant stars with circumstellar envelopes and to determine the star formation rate (SFR) in the CMZ. Methods. We obtained KMOS low-resolution near-infrared spectra (R ~ 4000) between 2.0 and 2.5 μm of sources, many of which have been previously identified by mid-infrared photometric criteria as massive YSOs in the Galactic centre. Our final sample consists of 91 stars with good signal-to-noise ratio. We separated YSOs from cool late-type stars based on spectral features of CO and Brγ at 2.3 μm and 2.16 μm, respectively. We made use of spectral energy distribution (SED) model fits to the observed photometric data points from 1.25 to 24 μm to estimate approximate masses for the YSOs. Results. Using the spectroscopically identified YSOs in our sample, we confirm that existing colour–colour diagrams and colour-magnitude diagrams are unable to efficiently separate YSOs and cool late-type stars. In addition, we define a new colour–colour criterion that separates YSOs from cool late-type stars in the H−KS vs. H −[8.0] diagram. We use this new criterion to identify YSO candidates in the |l| < 1.̊5, |b| < 0.̊5, region and use model SED fits to estimate their approximate masses. By assuming an appropriate initial mass function (IMF) and extrapolating the stellar IMF down to lower masses, we determine a SFR of ~0.046 ± 0.026 M⊙ yr-1 assuming an average age of 0.75 ± 0.25 Myr for the YSOs. This value is lower than estimates found using the YSO counting method in the literature. Conclusions. Our SFR estimate in the CMZ agrees with the previous estimates from various methods and reaffirms that star formation in the CMZ is proceeding at a lower rate than predicted by various star forming models.


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