No Arabic abstract
We characterize the ionized gas outflows in 15 low-redshift star-forming galaxies, a Valparaiso ALMA Line Emission Survey (VALES) subsample, using MUSE integral field spectroscopy and GAMA photometric broadband data. We measure the emission-line spectra by fitting a double-component profile, with the second and broader component being related to the outflowing gas. This interpretation is in agreement with the correlation between the observed star-formation rate surface density ($Sigma_{mathrm{SFR}}$) and the second-component velocity dispersion ($sigma_{mathrm{2nd}}$), expected when tracing the feedback component. By modelling the broadband spectra with spectra energy distribution (SED) fitting and obtaining the star-formation histories of the sample, we observe a small decrease in SFR between 100 and 10 Myr in galaxies when the outflow H$alpha$ luminosity contribution is increased, indicating that the feedback somewhat inhibits the star formation within these timescales. The observed emission-line ratios are best reproduced by photoionization models when compared to shock-ionization, indicating that radiation from young stellar population is dominant, and seems to be a consequence of a continuous star-formation activity instead of a bursty event. The outflow properties such as mass outflow rate ($sim 0.1,$M$_odot$ yr$^{-1}$), outflow kinetic power ($sim 5.2 times 10^{-4}% L_{mathrm{bol}}$) and mass loading factor ($sim 0.12$) point towards a scenario where the measured feedback is not strong and has a low impact on the evolution of galaxies in general.
Context. Spatially resolved observations of the ionized and molecular gas are critical for understanding the physical processes that govern the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies. Aims. To study the morpho-kinematic properties of the ionized and molecular gas in three dusty starburst galaxies at $z = 0.12-0.17$ to explore the relation between molecular ISM gas phase dynamics and the star-formation activity. Methods. We analyse $sim$kpc-scale ALMA CO(1--0) and seeing limited SINFONI Paschen-$alpha$ observations. We use a dynamical mass model, which accounts for beam-smearing effects, to constrain the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor. Results. One starburst galaxy shows irregular morphology which may indicate a major merger, while the other two systems show disc-like morpho-kinematics. The two disc-like starbursts show molecular gas velocity dispersion values comparable with that seen in local LIRG/ULIRGs, but in an ISM with molecular gas fraction and surface density values consistent to that reported for local star-forming galaxies. These molecular gas velocity dispersion values can be explained by assuming vertical pressure equilibrium. The star-formation activity is correlated with the molecular gas content suggesting depletion times of the order of $sim 0.1-1$ Gyr. The star formation rate surface density ($Sigma_{rm SFR}$) correlates with the ISM pressure set by self-gravity ($P_{rm grav}$) following a power law with an exponent close to 0.8. Conclusions. In dusty disc-like starburst galaxies, our data support the scenario in which the molecular gas velocity dispersion values are driven by the ISM pressure set by self-gravity, responsible to maintain the vertical pressure balance. The correlation between $Sigma_{rm SFR}$ and $P_{rm grav}$ suggests that, in these dusty starbursts galaxies, the star formation activity arises as a consequence of the ISM pressure balance.
IC 1459 is an early-type galaxy (ETG) with a rapidly counter-rotating stellar core, and is the central galaxy in a gas-rich group of spirals. In this work, we investigate the abundant ionized gas in IC 1459 and present new stellar orbital models to connect its complex array of observed properties and build a more complete picture of its evolution. Using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), the optical integral field unit (IFU) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), we examine the gas and stellar properties of IC 1459 to decipher the origin and powering mechanism of the galaxys ionized gas. We detect ionized gas in a non-disk-like structure rotating in the opposite sense to the central stars. Using emission-line flux ratios and velocity dispersion from full-spectral fitting, we find two kinematically distinct regions of shocked emission-line gas in IC 1459, which we distinguished using narrow ($sigma$ $leq$ 155 km s$^{-1}$) and broad ($sigma$ $>$ 155 km s$^{-1}$) profiles. Our results imply that the emission-line gas in IC 1459 has a different origin than that of its counter-rotating stellar component. We propose that the ionized gas is from late-stage accretion of gas from the group environment, which occurred long after the formation of the central stellar component. We find that shock heating and AGN activity are both ionizing mechanisms in IC 1459 but that the dominant excitation mechanism is by post-asymptotic giant branch stars from its old stellar population.
We present an extragalactic survey using observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to characterise galaxy populations up to $z=0.35$: the Valparaiso ALMA Line Emission Survey (VALES). We use ALMA Band-3 CO(1--0) observations to study the molecular gas content in a sample of 67 dusty normal star-forming galaxies selected from the $Herschel$ Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey ($H$-ATLAS). We have spectrally detected 49 galaxies at $>5sigma$ significance and 12 others are seen at low significance in stacked spectra. CO luminosities are in the range of $(0.03-1.31)times10^{10}$ K km s$^{-1}$ pc$^2$, equivalent to $log({rm M_{gas}/M_{odot}}) =8.9-10.9$ assuming an $alpha_{rm CO}$=4.6(K km s$^{-1}$ pc$^{2}$)$^{-1}$, which perfectly complements the parameter space previously explored with local and high-z normal galaxies. We compute the optical to CO size ratio for 21 galaxies resolved by ALMA at $sim 3$.$5$ resolution (6.5 kpc), finding that the molecular gas is on average $sim$ 0.6 times more compact than the stellar component. We obtain a global Schmidt-Kennicutt relation, given by $log [Sigma_{rm SFR}/({rm M_{odot} yr^{-1}kpc^{-2}})]=(1.26 pm 0.02) times log [Sigma_{rm M_{H2}}/({rm M_{odot},pc^{-2}})]-(3.6 pm 0.2)$. We find a significant fraction of galaxies lying at `intermediate efficiencies between a long-standing mode of star-formation activity and a starburst, specially at $rm L_{IR}=10^{11-12} L_{odot}$. Combining our observations with data taken from the literature, we propose that star formation efficiencies can be parameterised by $log [{rm SFR/M_{H2}}]=0.19 times {rm (log {L_{IR}}-11.45)}-8.26-0.41 times arctan[-4.84 (log {rm L_{IR}}-11.45) ]$. Within the redshift range we explore ($z<0.35$), we identify a rapid increase of the gas content as a function of redshift.
We report on the discovery of extended Ly-alpha nebulae at z~3.3 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF, ~ 40 kpc X 80 kpc) and behind the Hubble Frontier Fields galaxy cluster MACSJ0416 (~ 40kpc), spatially associated with groups of star-forming galaxies. VLT/MUSE integral field spectroscopy reveals a complex structure with a spatially-varying double peaked Ly-alpha emission. Overall, the spectral profiles of the two Ly-alpha nebulae are remarkably similar, both showing a prominent blue emission, more intense and slightly broader than the red peak. From the first nebula, located in the HUDF, no X-ray emission has been detected, disfavoring the possible presence of AGNs. Spectroscopic redshifts have been derived for 11 galaxies within two arcsec from the nebula and spanning the redshift range 1.037<z<5.97. The second nebula, behind MACSJ0416, shows three aligned star-forming galaxies plausibly associated to the emitting gas. In both systems, the associated galaxies reveal possible intense rest-frame-optical nebular emissions lines [OIII]4959-5007+Hbeta with equivalent widths as high as 1500A rest-frame and star formation rates ranging from a few to tens of solar masses per year. A possible scenario is that of a group of young, star-forming galaxies sources of escaping ionising radiation that induce Ly-alpha fluorescence, therefore revealing the kinematics of the surrounding gas. Also Ly-alpha powered by star-formation and/or cooling radiation may resemble the double peaked spectral properties and the morphology observed here. If the intense blue emission is associated with inflowing gas, then we may be witnessing an early phase of galaxy or a proto-cluster (or group) formation.