METALLICITIES OF EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES FROM HST ACS PEARS AND HST WFC3 ERS GRISM SPECTROSCOPY AT 0.6 < z < 2.4
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, AZ 85287-1404 (United States)
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
- Astrophysics Science Division, Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 665, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States)
- European Southern Observatory, Karl Schwarzschild Str. 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States)
Galaxies selected on the basis of their emission-line strength show low metallicities, regardless of their redshifts. We conclude this from a sample of faint galaxies at redshifts between 0.6 < z < 2.4, selected by their prominent emission lines in low-resolution grism spectra in the optical with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope and in the near-infrared using Wide-Field Camera 3. Using a sample of 11 emission-line galaxies at 0.6 < z < 2.4 with luminosities of -22 {approx}< M{sub B} {approx}< -19 which have [O II], H{beta}, and [O III] line flux measurements from the combination of two grism spectral surveys, we use the R23 method to derive the gas-phase oxygen abundances: 7.5 < 12 + log (O/H) < 8.5. The galaxy stellar masses are derived using Bayesian-based Markov Chain Monte Carlo ({pi}MC{sup 2}) fitting of their spectral energy distribution, and span the mass range 8.1 < log (M{sub *}/M{sub Sun} ) < 10.1. These galaxies show mass-metallicity (M-Z) and luminosity-metallicity (L-Z) relations, which are offset by -0.6 dex in metallicity at given absolute magnitude and stellar mass relative to the local Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies, as well as continuum-selected DEEP2 samples at similar redshifts. The emission-line-selected galaxies most resemble the local 'green peas' galaxies and Ly{alpha} galaxies at z {approx_equal} 0.3 and z {approx_equal} 2.3 in the M-Z and L-Z relations and their morphologies. The G - M{sub 20} morphology analysis shows that 10 out of 11 show disturbed morphology, even as the star-forming regions are compact. These galaxies may be intrinsically metal poor, being at early stages of formation, or the low metallicities may be due to gas infall and accretion due to mergers.
- OSTI ID:
- 22034413
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 144, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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