| 1. |
- Bridge, Joanna S., et al.
(författare)
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The Ly alpha Reference Sample. VIII. Characterizing Ly alpha Scattering in Nearby Galaxies
- 2018
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 852:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examine the dust geometry and Ly alpha scattering in the galaxies of the Lyman Alpha Reference Sample (LARS), a set of 14 nearby (0.02 < z < 0.2) Ly alpha-emitting and starbursting systems with Hubble Space Telescope Ly alpha, H alpha, and H beta imaging. We find that the global dust properties determined by line ratios are consistent with other studies, with some of the LARS galaxies exhibiting clumpy dust media, while others of them show significantly lower Ly alpha emission compared to their Balmer decrement. With the LARS imaging, we present Ly alpha/H alpha and H alpha/H beta maps with spatial resolutions as low as similar to 40 pc, and use these data to show that in most galaxies, the dust geometry is best modeled by three distinct regions: a central core where dust acts as a screen, an annulus where dust is distributed in clumps, and an outer envelope where Ly alpha photons only scatter. We show that the dust that affects the escape of Ly alpha is more restricted to the galaxies' central regions, while the larger Ly alpha halos are generated by scattering at large radii. We present an empirical modeling technique to quantify how much Ly alpha scatters in the halo, and find that this characteristic scattering distance correlates with the measured size of the Ly alpha halo. We note that there exists a slight anti-correlation between the scattering distance of Ly alpha and global dust properties.
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| 2. |
- Pardy, Stephen A., et al.
(författare)
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Detection Of H I In Emission In The LY Alpha Emitting Galaxy Haro 11
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astronomical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-6256 .- 1538-3881. ; 152:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first robust detection of H I 21 cm emission in the blue compact galaxy Haro 11 using the 100 m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). Haro 11 is a luminous blue compact galaxy with emission in both Ly alpha and the Lyman continuum. We detect (5.1 +/- 0.7 x 10(8)) M-circle dot of H I gas at an assumed distance of 88 Mpc, making this galaxy H I deficient compared to other local galaxies with similar optical properties. Given this small H I mass, Haro 11 has an elevated MH2/MH I ratio and a very low gas fraction compared to most local galaxies, and contains twice as much mass in ionized hydrogen as in neutral hydrogen. The H I emission has a linewidth of 71 km s(-1) and is offset 60 km s(-1) redward of the optical line center. It is undergoing a starburst after a recent merger that has elevated the star formation rate, and will deplete the gas supply in <0.2 Gyr. Although this starburst has elevated the star formation rate (SFR) compared to galaxies with similar H I masses and line widths, Haro 11 matches a trend of lower gas fractions toward higher SFRs and is below the general trend of increasing H I mass with increasing luminosity. Taken together, our results paint Haro 11 as a standard low-mass galaxy that is undergoing an unusually efficient star formation episode.
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| 3. |
- Pardy, Stephen A., et al.
(författare)
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THE LYMAN ALPHA REFERENCE SAMPLE. III. PROPERTIES OF THE NEUTRAL ISM FROM GBT AND VLA OBSERVATIONS
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 794:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present new Hi imaging and spectroscopy of the 14 UV-selected star-forming galaxies in the Lyman Alpha Reference Sample (LARS), aimed for a detailed study of the processes governing the production, propagation, and escape of Ly alpha photons. New Hi spectroscopy, obtained with the 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT), robustly detects the Hi spectral line in 11 of the 14 observed LARS galaxies (although the profiles of two of the galaxies are likely confused by other sources within the GBT beam); the three highest redshift galaxies are not detected at our current sensitivity limits. The GBT profiles are used to derive fundamental Hi line properties of the LARS galaxies. We also present new pilot Hi spectral line imaging of five of the LARS galaxies obtained with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). This imaging localizes the Hi gas and provides a measurement of the total Hi mass in each galaxy. In one system, LARS 03 (UGC 8335 or Arp 238), VLA observations reveal an enormous tidal structure that extends over 160 kpc from the main interacting systems and that contains >10(9) M-circle dot of Hi. We compare various Hi properties with global Ly alpha quantities derived from Hubble Space Telescope measurements. The measurements of the Ly alpha escape fraction are coupled with the new direct measurements of Hi mass and significantly disturbed Hi velocities. Our robustly detected sample reveals tentative correlations between the total Hi mass and linewidth, and key Ly alpha tracers. Further, on global scales, these data support a complex coupling between Ly alpha propagation and the Hi properties of the surrounding medium.
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| 4. |
- Östlin, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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THE Ly alpha REFERENCE SAMPLE. I. SURVEY OUTLINE AND FIRST RESULTS FOR MARKARIAN 259
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 797:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Ly alpha Reference Sample (LARS) is a substantial program with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) that provides a sample of local universe laboratory galaxies in which to study the detailed astrophysics of the visibility and strength of the Ly alpha line of neutral hydrogen. Ly alpha is the dominant spectral line in use for characterizing high-redshift (z) galaxies. This paper presents an overview of the survey, its selection function, and HST imaging observations. The sample was selected from the combined GALEX+Sloan Digital Sky Survey catalog at z = 0.028-0.19, in order to allow Ly alpha to be captured with combinations of long-pass filters in the Solar Blind Channel (SBC) of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) onboard HST. In addition, LARS utilizes H alpha and H beta narrowband and u, b, i broadband imaging with ACS and the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). In order to study galaxies in which large numbers of Ly alpha photons are produced (whether or not they escape), we demanded an H alpha equivalent width W(H alpha) >= 100 angstrom. The final sample of 14 galaxies covers far-UV (FUV, lambda similar to 1500 angstrom) luminosities that overlap with those of high-z Ly alpha emitters (LAEs) and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs), making LARS a valid comparison sample. We present the reduction steps used to obtain the Ly alpha images, including our LARS eXtraction software (LaXs), which utilizes pixel-by-pixel spectral synthesis fitting of the energy distribution to determine and subtract the continuum at Ly alpha. We demonstrate that the use of SBC long-pass-filter combinations increase the signal-to-noise ratio by an order of magnitude compared to the nominal Ly alpha filter available in SBC. To exemplify the science potential of LARS, we also present some first results for a single galaxy, Mrk 259 (LARS #1). This irregular galaxy shows bright and extended (indicative of resonance scattering) but strongly asymmetric Ly alpha emission. Spectroscopy from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on board HST centered on the brightest UV knot shows a moderate outflow in the neutral interstellar medium (probed by low ionization stage absorption features) and Ly alpha emission with an asymmetric profile. Radiative transfer modeling is able to reproduce the essential features of the Ly alpha line profile and confirms the presence of an outflow. From the integrated photometry we measure an Ly alpha luminosity of L-Ly alpha= 1.3x10(42) erg s(-1) an equivalent width W(Ly alpha) = 45 angstrom and an FUV absolute magnitude M-FUV = -19.2 (AB). Mrk 259 would hence be detectable in high-z Ly alpha and LBG surveys. The total Ly alpha escape fraction is 12%. This number is higher than the low-z average, but similar to that at z > 4, demonstrating that LARS provides a valid comparison sample for high-z galaxy studies.
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