The Contribution of Field OB Stars to the Ionization of the Diffuse Ionized Gas in M33

Abstract

(Abridged) We present a study of the ionizing stars associated with the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) and HII regions in the nearby spiral galaxy M33. We compare our Schmidt H-alpha image to the far-ultraviolet (FUV, 1520A) image from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT). The H-alpha/FUV ratio is higher in HII regions than in the DIG, suggesting an older population of ionizing stars in the DIG. When compared to models of evolving stellar populations, the N(Lyc)/FUV ratio in HII regions is consistent with a young burst, while the DIG ratio resembles an older burst population, or a steady state population built up by constant star formation. The UIT data is complimented with archival FUV and optical images of a small portion of the disk of M33 obtained with WFPC2 on HST. Using the HST FUV and optical photometry, we assign spectral types to the stars observed in DIG and HII regions. The photometry indicates that ionizing stars are present in the DIG. We compare the predicted ionizing flux with the amount required to produce the observed H-alpha emission, and find that field OB stars in the HST images can account for 40% +/- 12% of the ionization of the DIG, while the stars in HII regions can provide 107% +/- 26% of the H-alpha luminosity of the HII regions. We do not find any correlation between leakage of ionizing photons and H-alpha luminosity for the HII regions in these HST fields. If stellar photons alone are responsible for ionizing the DIG, the current results are consistent with no or few ionizing photons escaping from the galaxy.