UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Spatial correlation between dust and Hα emission in dwarf irregular galaxies

Jimmy; Kim-Vy, T; Saintonge, A; Accurso, G; Brough, S; Oliva-Altamirano, P; Salmon, B; (2016) Spatial correlation between dust and Hα emission in dwarf irregular galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal , 825 (1) , Article 34. 10.3847/0004-637X/825/1/34. Green open access

[thumbnail of Jimmy_2016_ApJ_825_34.pdf]
Preview
Text
Jimmy_2016_ApJ_825_34.pdf - Published Version

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Using a sample of dwarf irregular galaxies selected from the ALFALFA blind H i-survey and observed using the VIMOS IFU, we investigate the relationship between Hα emission and Balmer optical depth (${\tau }_{{\rm{b}}}$). We find a positive correlation between Hα luminosity surface density and Balmer optical depth in 8 of 11 at ≥0.8σ significance (6 of 11 at ≥1.0σ) galaxies. Our spaxels have physical scales ranging from 30 to 80 pc, demonstrating that the correlation between these two variables continues to hold down to spatial scales as low as 30 pc. Using the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient to test for correlation between ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{{\rm{H}}\alpha }$ and ${\tau }_{{\rm{b}}}$ in all the galaxies combined, we find $\rho =0.39$, indicating a positive correlation at 4σ significance. Our low stellar-mass galaxy results are in agreement with observations of emission line regions in larger spiral galaxies, indicating that this relationship is independent of the size of the galaxy hosting the emission line region. The positive correlation between Hα luminosity and Balmer optical depth within spaxels is consistent with the hypothesis that young star-forming regions are surrounded by dusty birth-clouds.

Type: Article
Title: Spatial correlation between dust and Hα emission in dwarf irregular galaxies
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/825/1/34
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/825/1/34
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Keywords: galaxies: dwarf; galaxies: general; galaxies: irregular; galaxies: ISM
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1524185
Downloads since deposit
77Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item