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Register a new userThe Semi-forbidden CIII]$lambda$1909AA~ Emission in the Rest-Ultraviolet Spectra of Green Pea Galaxies
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We used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to observe the semi-forbidden CIII] emission in Green Pea galaxies at 0.13 < z < 0.3. We detect CIII] emission in 7/10 galaxies with CIII] equivalent widths that range from 2-10AA~. The observed CIII] emission line strengths are consistent with the predictions from photoionization models which incorporate the effects of binary stellar evolution with young stellar ages < 3-5 Myrs, and high ionization parameters (logU > -2). The hard ionizing radiation from young massive stars, and high nebular temperatures at low-metallicities can account for the observed high equivalent widths of CIII] and [OIII] emission lines. The Green Pea galaxies do not show a significant correlation between the Ly$alpha$ and CIII] equivalent widths, and the observed scatter is likely due to the variations in the optical depth of Ly$alpha$ to the neutral gas. Green Pea galaxies are likely to be density-bounded, and we examined the dependence of CIII] emission on the Lyman continuum optical depth. The potential LyC leaker galaxies in our sample have high CIII] equivalent widths that can only be reproduced by starburst ages as young as < 3 Myrs and harder ionizing spectra than the non-leakers. Among the galaxies with similar metallicities and ionization parameters, the CIII] equivalent width appears to be stronger for those with higher optical depth to LyC, as expected from the photoionization models. Further investigation of a larger sample of CIII]-emitters is necessary to calibrate the dependence of CIII] emission on the escape of LyC radiation, and to enable application of the CIII] diagnostics to galaxies in the reionization epoch.
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Green Peas are a class of extreme star-forming galaxies at intermediate redshifts, originally discovered via color-selection using multi-filter, wide-field survey imaging data (Cardamone et al. 2009). They are commonly thought of as being analogs of high-redshift Ly$alpha$-emitting galaxies. The defining characteristic of Green Pea galaxies is a high-excitation nebular spectrum with very large equivalent width lines, leading to the recognition that Green Pea-like galaxies can also be identified in samples of emission-line galaxies. Here we compare the properties a sample of [O III]-selected star-forming galaxies (z = 0.29-0.41) from the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey (KISS) with the color-selected Green Peas. We find that the KISS [O III]-selected galaxies overlap with the parameter space defined by the color-selected Green Peas; the two samples appear to be drawn from the same population of objects. We compare the KISS Green Peas with the full H$alpha$-selected KISS star-forming galaxy sample (z $<$ 0.1) and find that they are extreme systems. Many appear to be young systems at their observed look-back times (3-4 Gyr), with more than 90% of their rest-frame B-band luminosity coming from the starburst population. We compute the volume density of the KISSR Green Peas at z = 0.29-0.41 and find that they are extremely rare objects. We dont see galaxies as extreme as the KISSR Green Peas in the local Universe, although we recognize several lower-luminosity systems at z $<$ 0.1.
We have used the Arecibo Telescope and the Green Bank Telescope to carry out a deep search for H{sc i}~21,cm emission from a large sample of Green Pea galaxies, yielding 19 detections, and 21 upper limits on the H{sc i} mass. We obtain H{sc i} masses of $rm M_{HI} approx (4-300) times 10^8 , rm M_odot$ for the detections, with a median H{sc i} mass of $approx 2.6 times 10^9 , rm M_odot$; for the non-detections, the median $3sigma$ upper limit on the H{sc i} mass is $approx 5.5 times 10^8 , rm M_odot$. These are the first estimates of the atomic gas content of Green Pea galaxies. We find that the H{sc i}-to-stellar mass ratio in Green Peas is consistent with trends identified in star-forming galaxies in the local Universe. However, the median H{sc i} depletion timescale in Green Peas is $approx 0.6$~Gyr, an order of magnitude lower than that obtained in local star-forming galaxies. This implies that Green Peas consume their atomic gas on very short timescales. A significant fraction of the Green Peas of our sample lie $gtrsim 0.6$~dex ($2sigma$) above the local $rm M_{HI} - M_B$ relation, suggesting recent gas accretion. Further, $approx 30$% of the Green Peas are more than $pm 2sigma$ deviant from this relation, suggesting possible bimodality in the Green Pea population. We obtain a low H{sc i}~21,cm detection rate in the Green Peas with the highest O32~$equiv$~[O{sc iii}]$lambda$5007/[O{sc ii}]$lambda$3727 luminosity ratios, O32~$> 10$, consistent with the high expected Lyman-continuum leakage from these galaxies.
Compact starburst galaxies are thought to include many or most of the galaxies from which substantial Lyman continuum emission can escape into the intergalactic medium. Li and Malkan (2018) used SDSS photometry to find a population of such starburst galaxies at z~0.5. They were discovered by their extremely strong [OIII]4959+5007 emission lines, which produce a clearly detectable excess brightness in the i bandpass, compared with surrounding filters. We therefore used the HST/COS spectrograph to observe two of the newly discovered i-band excess galaxies around their Lyman limits. One has strongly detected continuum below its Lyman limit, corresponding to a relative escape fraction of ionizing photons of 20+/-2%. The other, which is less compact in UV imaging, has a 2-sigma upper limit to its Lyman escape fraction of <5%. Before the UV spectroscopy, the existing data could not distinguish these two galaxies. Although a sample of two is hardly sufficient for statistical analysis, it shows the possibility that some fraction of these strong [OIII] emitters as a class have ionizing photons escaping. The differences might be determined by the luck of our particular viewing geometry. Obtaining the HST spectroscopy, revealed that the Lyman-continuum emitting galaxy differs in having no central absorption in its prominent Ly{alpha} emission line profile. The other target, with no escaping Lyman continuum, shows the more common double-peaked Ly{alpha} emission.
We use new HST images of nine Green Pea Galaxies (GPGs) to study their resolved structure and color. The choice of filters, F555W and F850LP, together with the redshift of the galaxies ($zsim 0.25$), minimizes the contribution of the nebular [Othinspace{sc iii}] and H$alpha$ emission lines to the broad-band images. While these galaxies are typically very blue in color, our analysis reveals that it is only the dominant stellar clusters that are blue. Each GPG does clearly show the presence of at least one bright and compact star-forming region, but these are invariably superimposed on a more extended and lower surface brightness emission. Moreover, the colors of the star forming regions are on average bluer than those of the diffuse emission, reaching up to 0.6 magnitudes bluer. Assuming that the diffuse and compact components have constant and single burst Star Formation Histories, respectively, the observed colors imply that the diffuse components (possibly the host galaxy of the star-formation episode) have, on average, old stellar ages ($>1$Gyr), while the star-clusters are younger than 500Myrs. We also discuss the possibility that the diffuse red emission is due to a varying relative contribution of nebular continuum, rather than a different stellar population. With the available data, however, it is not possible to distinguish between these two interpretations. A substantial presence of old stars would indicate that the mechanisms that allow large escape fractions in these local galaxies may be different from those at play during the reionization epoch.
We analyze the CIII]-1908AA emission properties in a sample of 3899 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at 2<z<3.8 from the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS). We find a median EW(CIII])=2.0$pm$0.2 to 2.2$pm$0.2AA ~for the SFG population at 2<z<3 and 3<z<4, resp. About 24% of SFGs are showing EW(CIII])>3AA, including 20% with 3<EW(CIII])<10AA ~and 4% with strong emission EW(CIII])>10AA. A significant fraction of 1.2% of SFGs presents strong CIII] emission 20<EW(CIII])<40AA. This makes CIII] the second most-frequent emission line in the UV-rest spectra of SFGs after Lyman-$alpha$. We find a large dispersion in the weak EW(CIII]) - EW(Lyalpha) correlation, with galaxies showing strong CIII] and no Ly$alpha$, and vice-versa. SFGs with 10<EW(CIII])<0AA ~present strong emission lines including CIV-1549, HeII-1640, OIII-1664, but also weaker emission of highly ionized elements SiIV-1403, NIV-1485, NIII-1750, or SiIII-1888, indicating a hard radiation field. We present a broad range of observational evidence supporting the presence of AGN in the strong CIII] emitting population. As EW(CIII]) is rising, we identify powerful outflows with velocities up to 1014 km/s. The strongest CIII] emitters are preferentially located below the SFGs main sequence, with the SFR reduced by x2. In addition, the median stellar age of the strongest emitters is ~0.8 Gyr, three times that of galaxies with EW(CIII])<10AA. Spectral line analysis presented in a joint paper by Nakajima et al. (2017) confirms that the strongest emitters require an AGN. We conclude that these properties are indicative of AGN feedback in SFGs at 2<z<3.8, contributing to star-formation quenching. We find that quenching timescales of 0.25-0.5x10^9 years are necessary for such AGN feedback to turn part of the star-forming galaxy population with Mstar>10^10 MSun at z~3 into the population of quiescent galaxies observed at redshift z~1-2.
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