OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY AND NEBULAR OXYGEN ABUNDANCES OF THE SPITZER/SINGS GALAXIES
Journal Article
·
· Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States)
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4524 Sterling Hall, 475 N. Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Ritter Obs., MS 113, Toledo, OH 43606 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, 710 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States)
We present intermediate-resolution optical spectrophotometry of 65 galaxies obtained in support of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS). For each galaxy we obtain a nuclear, circumnuclear, and semi-integrated optical spectrum designed to coincide spatially with mid- and far-infrared spectroscopy from the Spitzer Space Telescope. We make the reduced, spectrophotometrically calibrated one-dimensional spectra, as well as measurements of the fluxes and equivalent widths of the strong nebular emission lines, publicly available. We use optical emission-line ratios measured on all three spatial scales to classify the sample into star-forming, active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and galaxies with a mixture of star formation and nuclear activity. We find that the relative fraction of the sample classified as star forming versus AGN is a strong function of the integrated light enclosed by the spectroscopic aperture. We supplement our observations with a large database of nebular emission-line measurements of individual H II regions in the SINGS galaxies culled from the literature. We use these ancillary data to conduct a detailed analysis of the radial abundance gradients and average H II-region abundances of a large fraction of the sample. We combine these results with our new integrated spectra to estimate the central and characteristic (globally averaged) gas-phase oxygen abundances of all 75 SINGS galaxies. We conclude with an in-depth discussion of the absolute uncertainty in the nebular oxygen abundance scale.
- OSTI ID:
- 21454939
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 190; ISSN 0067-0049; ISSN APJSA2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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