The central spectra of massive star-forming galaxies

Abstract

We have examined the nuclear spectra of very massive star-forming galaxies at $z \sim 0$ to understand how they differ from other galaxies with comparable masses, which are typically passive. We selected a sample of 126 nearby massive star-forming galaxies ($<100~{\rm Mpc}$, $10^{11.3}~\rm{M_\odot} \leq M_{\rm stellar} \leq 10^{11.7}~\rm{M_\odot}$, $1 ~{\rm M_\odot~yr^{-1}}< {\rm SFR} <13 ~{\rm M_\odot~yr^{-1}}$) from the 2MRS-Bright WXSC catalogue. LEDA morphologies indicate at least 63\% of our galaxies are spirals, while visual inspection of Dark Energy Survey images reveals 75\% of our galaxies to be spirals with the remainder being lenticular. Of our sample 59 have archival nuclear spectra, which we have modelled and subsequently measured emission lines ([NII]$\rm{\lambda 6583}$, H$\alpha\rm{\lambda 6563}$, [OIII]$\rm{\lambda 5008}$, and H$\beta\rm{\lambda 4863}$), classifying galaxies as star-forming, LINERS, or AGNs. Using a BPT diagram we find $83 \pm 6$ \% of our galaxies, with sufficient signal-to-noise to measure all 4 emission lines, to be LINERs. Using the [NII]$\rm{\lambda 6583}$/H$\alpha\rm{\lambda 6563}$ emission line ratio alone we find that $79 \pm 6$ \% of the galaxies (46 galaxies) with archival spectra are LINERs, whereas just $\sim 30\%$ of the overall massive galaxy population are LINERs (Belfiore et al. 2016). Our sample can be considered a local analogue of the Ogle et al. (2016, 2019) sample of $z \sim 0.22$ massive star-forming galaxies in terms of selection criteria, and we find 64\% of their galaxies are LINERs using SDSS spectra. The high frequency of LINER emission in these massive star-forming galaxies indicates that LINER emission in massive galaxies may be linked to the presence of gas that fuels star formation.