arXiv subjects

Erik A. Hoversten

Publications and source records attributed to Erik A. Hoversten.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2017

Swift Ultraviolet Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (SUMaC). I. Shape of the Ultraviolet Dust Extinction Law and Recent Star Formation History of the Small Magellanic Cloud

We present the first results from the Swift Ultraviolet Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (SUMaC), the highest resolution ultraviolet (UV) survey of the Magellanic Clouds yet completed. In this paper, we focus on the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). When combined with multi-wavelength optical and infrared observations, the three near-UV filters on the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope are conducive to measuring the shape of the dust extinction curve and the strength of the 2175Å dust bump. We divide the SMC into UV-detected star-forming regions and large 200" (58~pc) pixels and then model the spectral energy distributions using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to constrain the ages, masses, and dust curve properties. We find that the majority of the SMC has a 2175Å dust bump, which is larger to the northeast and smaller to the southwest, and that the extinction curve is universally steeper than the Galactic curve. We also derive a star formation history and find evidence for peaks in the star formation rate at 6-10 Myr, 30-80 Myr, and 400 Myr, the latter two of which are consistent with previous work.

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arXiv2016

The RESOLVE Survey Atomic Gas Census and Environmental Influences on Galaxy Gas Reservoirs

We present the HI mass inventory for the RESOLVE survey, a volume-limited, multi-wavelength census of >1500 z=0 galaxies spanning diverse environments and complete in baryonic mass down to dwarfs of 10^9 Msun. This first 21cm data release provides robust detections or strong upper limits (1.4M_HI < 5 to 10% of stellar mass M_stars) for 94% of RESOLVE. We examine global atomic gas-to-stellar mass ratios (G/S) in relation to galaxy environment using several metrics: group dark matter halo mass M_h , central/satellite designation, relative mass density of the cosmic web, and distance to nearest massive group. We find that at fixed M_stars, satellites have decreasing G/S with increasing M_h starting clearly at M_h = 10^12 Msun, suggesting the presence of starvation and/or stripping mechanisms associated with halo gas heating in intermediate-mass groups. The analogous relationship for centrals is uncertain because halo abundance matching builds in relationships between central G/S, stellar mass, and halo mass, which depend on the integrated group property used as a proxy for halo mass (stellar or baryonic mass). On larger scales G/S trends are less sensitive to the abundance matching method. At fixed M_h < 10^12 Msun, the fraction of gas-poor centrals increases with large-scale structure density. In overdense regions, we identify a rare population of gas-poor centrals in low-mass (M_h < 10^11.4 Msun) halos primarily located within 1.5 times the virial radius of more massive (M_h > 10^12 Msun) halos, suggesting that gas stripping and/or starvation may be induced by interactions with larger halos or the surrounding cosmic web. We find that the detailed relationship between G/S and environment varies when we examine different subvolumes of RESOLVE independently, which we suggest may be a signature of assembly bias.

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arXiv2015

RESOLVE Survey Photometry and Volume-limited Calibration of the Photometric Gas Fractions Technique

We present custom-processed UV, optical, and near-IR photometry for the RESOLVE survey, a volume-limited census of stellar, gas, and dynamical mass within two subvolumes of the nearby universe (RESOLVE-A and -B), complete down to baryonic mass ~10^9.1-9.3 Msun. In contrast to standard pipeline photometry (e.g., SDSS), our photometry uses optimal background subtraction, avoids suppressing color gradients, and includes systematic errors. With these improvements, we measure brighter magnitudes, larger radii, bluer colors, and a real increase in scatter around the red sequence. Combining stellar masses from our photometry with the RESOLVE-A HI mass census, we create volume-limited calibrations of the photometric gas fractions (PGF) technique, which predicts gas-to-stellar mass ratios (G/S) from galaxy colors and optional additional parameters. We analyze G/S-color residuals vs. potential third parameters, finding that axial ratio is the best independent and physically meaningful third parameter. We define a "modified color" from planar fits to G/S as a function of both color and axial ratio. In the complete galaxy population, upper limits on G/S bias linear and planar fits. We therefore model the entire PGF probability density field, enabling iterative statistical modeling of upper limits and prediction of full G/S probability distributions for individual galaxies, with two-component structure for red colors. We use the RESOLVE-B 21cm census to test several PGF calibrations, finding that most systematically under- or overestimate gas masses, but the full probability density method performs well.

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arXiv2015

The Evolution of the Far-UV Luminosity Function and Star Formation Rate Density of the Chandra Deep Field South from z=0.2-1.2 with Swift/UVOT

We use deep Swift UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) near-ultraviolet (1600A to 4000A) imaging of the Chandra Deep Field South to measure the rest-frame far-UV (FUV; 1500A) luminosity function (LF) in four redshift bins between z=0.2 and 1.2. Our sample includes 730 galaxies with u < 24.1 mag. We use two methods to construct and fit the LFs: the traditional V_max method with bootstrap errors and a maximum likelihood estimator. We observe luminosity evolution such that M* fades by ~2 magnitudes from z~1 to z~0.3 implying that star formation activity was substantially higher at z~1 than today. We integrate our LFs to determine the FUV luminosity densities and star formation rate densities from z=0.2 to 1.2. We find evolution consistent with an increase proportional to (1+z)^1.9 out to z~1. Our luminosity densities and star formation rates are consistent with those found in the literature, but are, on average, a factor of ~2 higher than previous FUV measurements. In addition, we combine our UVOT data with the MUSYC survey to model the galaxies' ultraviolet-to-infrared spectral energy distributions and estimate the rest-frame FUV attenuation. We find that accounting for the attenuation increases the star formation rate densities by ~1 dex across all four redshift bins.

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arXiv2015

UVOT Measurements of Dust and Star Formation in the SMC and M33

When measuring star formation rates using ultraviolet light, correcting for dust extinction is a critical step. However, with the variety of dust extinction curves to choose from, the extinction correction is quite uncertain. Here, we use Swift/UVOT to measure the extinction curve for star-forming regions in the SMC and M33. We find that both the slope of the curve and the strength of the 2175 Angstrom bump vary across both galaxies. In addition, as part of our modeling, we derive a detailed recent star formation history for each galaxy.

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arXiv2015

Swift, UVOT and Hot Stars

We present the results of our ongoing investigation into the properties of hot stars and young stellar populations using the Swift/UVOT telescope. We present UVOT photometry of open and globular clusters and show that UVOT is capable of characterizing a variety of rare hot stars, including Post-Asymptotic Giant Branch and Extreme Horizontal Branch Stars. We also present very early reults of our survey of stellar populations in the Small Magellanic Cloud. We find that the SMC has experienced recent bouts of star formation but constraining the exact star formation history will depend on finding an effective model of the reddening within the SMC.

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arXiv2014

The Swift UVOT Stars Survey: I. Methods and Test Clusters

We describe the motivations and background of a large survey of nearby stel- lar populations using the Ultraviolet Optical Telescope (UVOT) aboard the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission. UVOT, with its wide field, NUV sensitivity, and 2.3 spatial resolution, is uniquely suited to studying nearby stellar populations and providing insight into the NUV properties of hot stars and the contribution of those stars to the integrated light of more distant stellar populations. We review the state of UV stellar photometry, outline the survey, and address problems spe- cific to wide- and crowded-field UVOT photometry. We present color-magnitude diagrams of the nearby open clusters M 67, NGC 188, and NGC 2539, and the globular cluster M 79. We demonstrate that UVOT can easily discern the young- and intermediate-age main sequences, blue stragglers, and hot white dwarfs, pro- ducing results consistent with previous studies. We also find that it characterizes the blue horizontal branch of M 79 and easily identifies a known post-asymptotic giant branch star.

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arXiv2012

The Swift/UVOT catalogue of NGC4321 star forming sources: A case against density wave theory

We study the star forming regions in the spiral galaxy NGC4321, taking advantage of the spatial resolution (2.5 arcsec FWHM) of the Swift/UVOT camera and the availability of three UV passbands in the region 1600-3000 A, in combination with optical and IR imaging from SDSS, KPNO/Ha and Spitzer/IRAC, to obtain a catalogue of 787 star forming regions out to three disc scale lengths. We determine the properties of the young stellar component and its relationship with the spiral arms. The Ha luminosities of the sources have a strong decreasing radial trend, suggesting more massive star forming regions in the central part of the galaxy. When segregated with respect to NUV-optical colour, blue sources have a significant excess of flux in the IR at 8 micron, revealing the contribution from PAHs, although the overall reddening of these sources stays below E(B-V)=0.2 mag. The distribution of distances to the spiral arms is compared for subsamples selected according to Ha luminosity, NUV-optical colour, or ages derived from a population synthesis model. An offset is expected between these subsamples as a function of radius if the pattern speed of the spiral arm were constant - as predicted by classic density wave theory. No significant offsets are found, favouring instead a mechanism where the pattern speed has a radial dependence.

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arXiv2011

A Search for Lyman Break Galaxies in the CDF-S Using Swift UVOT

(Abridged) While the Swift satellite is primarily designed to study gamma-ray bursts, its ultraviolet and optical imaging and spectroscopy capabilities are also being used for a variety of scientific programs. In this study, we use the UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) instrument aboard Swift to discover 0.5 60ks exposure time, achieving a limiting magnitude of u<24.5, in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S). Applying UVOT near-ultraviolet color selection, we select 50 UV-dropouts from this UVOT CDF-S data. We match the selected sources with available multiwavelength data from GOODS-South, MUSYC, and COMBO-17 to characterize the spectral energy distributions for these galaxies and determine stellar masses, star formation rates (SFRs), and dust attenuations. We compare these properties for LBGs selected in this paper versus z~3 LBGs and other CDF-S galaxies in the same redshift range (0.5<z<2), identified using photometric redshift techniques. The z~1 LBGs have slightly lower stellar masses compared to z~3 LBGs and slightly higher stellar masses compared to the z~1 CDF-S galaxies. Similarly, our sample of z~1 LBGs has SFRs (derived using both ultraviolet and infrared data, where available) nearly an order of magnitude lower than z~3 LBGs but slightly higher than the comparison z~1 sample of CDF-S galaxies. We find that our z~1 UV-dropouts have A_FUV higher than z~3 LBGs, but is similar to the distribution of dust attenuations in the other CDF-S galaxies. Using the GOODS-South multiwavelength catalog of galaxies, we simulate a larger and fainter sample of LBGs to compare their properties with those of the UVOT-selected LBG sample. We conclude that UVOT can be useful for finding and studying the bright end of 0.5<z<2.0 LBGs.

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arXiv2010

Evidence for IMF Variations from the Integrated Light of SDSS Galaxies

The H alpha equivalent width (EW) is the ratio of the H alpha flux to the continuum at 6565Å. In normal star forming galaxies the H alpha flux is dominated by reprocessed photons from stars with masses greater than 10 M_o and the 6565Å continuum is predominantly due to 0.7-3.0 M_o red giant stars. In these galaxies the H alpha EW is effectively the ratio of high mass to low mass stars and is thus sensitive to the stellar initial mass function (IMF). In Hoversten & Glazebrook 2008 we used ~131,000 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to show evidence for systematic variations in the IMF with galaxy luminosity. In this proceeding we use that sample, with the addition of H delta_A measurements, to investigate other parameterizations of the IMF. We find evidence for IMF variations with surface brightness, and also show that, modulo uncertainties in spectral synthesis models, that 120 M_o stars are important in accounting for the observed H alpha EW distribution.

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arXiv2010

Faint NUV/FUV Standards from Swift/UVOT, GALEX and SDSS Photometry

At present, the precision of deep ultraviolet photometry is somewhat limited by the dearth of faint ultraviolet standard stars. In an effort to improve this situation, we present a uniform catalog of eleven new faint (u sim17) ultraviolet standard stars. High-precision photometry of these stars has been taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Galaxy Evolution Explorer and combined with new data from the Swift Ultraviolet Optical Telescope to provide precise photometric measures extending from the Near Infrared to the Far Ultraviolet. These stars were chosen because they are known to be hot (20,000 < T_eff < 50,000 K) DA white dwarfs with published Sloan spectra that should be photometrically stable. This careful selection allows us to compare the combined photometry and Sloan spectroscopy to models of pure hydrogen atmospheres to both constrain the underlying properties of the white dwarfs and test the ability of white dwarf models to predict the photometric measures. We find that the photometry provides good constraint on white dwarf temperatures, which demonstrates the ability of Swift/UVOT to investigate the properties of hot luminous stars. We further find that the models reproduce the photometric measures in all eleven passbands to within their systematic uncertainties. Within the limits of our photometry, we find the standard stars to be photometrically stable. This success indicates that the models can be used to calibrate additional filters to our standard system, permitting easier comparison of photometry from heterogeneous sources. The largest source of uncertainty in the model fitting is the uncertainty in the foreground reddening curve, a problem that is especially acute in the UV.

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arXiv2010

The Absolute Magnitudes of Type Ia Supernovae in the Ultraviolet

We examine the absolute magnitudes and light-curve shapes of 14 nearby(redshift z = 0.004--0.027) Type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia) observed in the ultraviolet (UV) with the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope. Colors and absolute magnitudes are calculated using both a standard Milky Way (MW) extinction law and one for the Large Magellanic Cloud that has been modified by circumstellar scattering. We find very different behavior in the near-UV filters (uvw1_rc covering ~2600-3300 A after removing optical light, and u ~3000--4000 A) compared to a mid-UV filter (uvm2 ~2000-2400 A). The uvw1_rc-b colors show a scatter of ~0.3 mag while uvm2-b scatters by nearly 0.9 mag. Similarly, while the scatter in colors between neighboring filters is small in the optical and somewhat larger in the near-UV, the large scatter in the uvm2-uvw1 colors implies significantly larger spectral variability below 2600 A. We find that in the near-UV the absolute magnitudes at peak brightness of normal SNe Ia in our sample are correlated with the optical decay rate with a scatter of 0.4 mag, comparable to that found for the optical in our sample. However, in the mid-UV the scatter is larger, ~1 mag, possibly indicating differences in metallicity. We find no strong correlation between either the UV light-curve shapes or the UV colors and the UV absolute magnitudes. With larger samples, the UV luminosity might be useful as an additional constraint to help determine distance, extinction, and metallicity in order to improve the utility of SNe Ia as standardized candles.

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arXiv2007

Evidence for a non-universal stellar initial mass function from the integrated properties of SDSS galaxies

This paper revisits the classical Kennicutt method for inferring the stellar initial mass function (IMF) from the integrated light properties of galaxies. The large size, uniform high quality data set from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR4 is combined with more in depth modeling and quantitative statistical analysis to search for systematic IMF variations as a function of galaxy luminosity. Galaxy H alpha equivalent widths are compared to a broadband color index to constrain the IMF. This parameter space is useful for breaking degeneracies which are traditionally problematic. Age and dust corrections are largely orthogonal to IMF variations. In addition the effects of metallicity and smooth star formation history e-folding times are small compared to IMF variations. We find that for the sample as a whole the best fitting IMF slope above 0.5 M_sun is Gamma = 1.4535 with a negligible random error of +/- 0.0004 and a systematic error of +/- 0.1. Galaxies brighter than around M_r,0.1 = -20 (including galaxies like the Milky Way which has M_r,0.1 ~ -21) are well fit by a universal Gamma ~ 1.4 IMF, similar to Salpeter, and smooth, exponential star formation histories (SFH). Fainter galaxies prefer steeper IMFs and the quality of the fits reveal that for these galaxies a universal IMF with smooth SFHs is actually a poor assumption. Several sources of sample bias are ruled out as the cause of these luminosity dependent IMF variations. Analysis of bursting SFH models shows that an implausible coordination of burst times is required to fit a universal IMF to the M_r,0.1 = -17 galaxies. This leads to the conclusions that the IMF in low luminosity galaxies has fewer massive stars, either by steeper slope or lower upper mass cutoff, and is not universal.

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arXiv2004

A Lyman-alpha-only AGN from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has discovered a z=2.4917 radio-loud active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a luminous, variable, low-polarization UV continuum, H I two-photon emission, and a moderately broad Lyman-alpha line (FWHM = 1430 km/s) but without obvious metal-line emission. SDSS J113658.36+024220.1 does have associated metal-line absorption in three distinct, narrow systems spanning a velocity range of 2710 km/s. Despite certain spectral similarities, SDSS J1136+0242 is not a Lyman-break galaxy. Instead, the Ly-alpha and two-photon emission can be attributed to an extended, low-metallicity narrow-line region. The unpolarized continuum argues that we see SDSS J1136+0242 very close to the axis of any ionization cone present. We can conceive of two plausible explanations for why we see a strong UV continuum but no broad-line emission in this `face-on radio galaxy' model for SDSS J1136+0242: the continuum could be relativistically beamed synchrotron emission which swamps the broad-line emission; or, more likely, SDSS J1136+0242 could be similar to PG 1407+265, a quasar in which for some unknown reason the high-ionization emission lines are very broad, very weak, and highly blueshifted.

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