arXiv subjects

Y. I. Izotov

Publications and source records attributed to Y. I. Izotov.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

The efficiency of ionising photon production and the radiation energy balance in compact star-forming galaxies

We derive apparent and absolute ultraviolet (UV) magnitudes, and luminosities in the infrared (IR) range of a large sample of low-redshift (0<z<1) compact star-forming galaxies (CSFGs) selected from the Data Release 12 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). These data are used to constrain the extinction law in the UV for our galaxies and to compare the absorbed radiation in the UV range with the emission in the IR range. We find that the modelled far- and near-UV apparent magnitudes are in good agreement with the observed GALEX magnitudes. It is found that galaxies with low and high equivalent widths EW(Hbeta) of the Hbeta emission line require different reddening laws with steeper slopes for galaxies with higher EW(H$β$). This implies an important role of the hard ionising radiation in shaping the dust grain size distribution. The IR emission in the range of 8-1000 mum is determined using existing data obtained by various infrared space telescopes. We find that the radiation energy absorbed in the UV range is nearly equal to the energy emitted in the IR range leaving very little room for hidden star formation in our galaxies. Using extinction-corrected Hbeta luminosities and modelled SEDs in the UV range we derive efficiencies of ionising photon production ξfor the entire sample of CSFGs. It is found that $ξ$ in CSFGs with high EW(Hbeta) are among the highest known for low- and high-redshift galaxies. If galaxies with similar properties existed at redshifts z=5-10, they could be considered as promising candidates for the reionisation of the Universe.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Searching for metal-deficient emission-line galaxy candidates: the final sample of the SDSS DR12 galaxies

We present a spectroscopic study of metal-deficient dwarf galaxy candidates, selected from the SDSS DR12. The oxygen abundances were derived using the direct method in galaxies with the electron temperature-sensitive emission line [OIII]4363A measured with an accuracy better than 30%. The oxygen abundances for the remaining galaxies with larger uncertainties of the [OIII]4363A line fluxes were calculated using a strong-line semi-empirical method by Izotov and Thuan. The resulting sample consists of 287 low-metallicity candidates with oxygen abundances below 12+logO/H=7.65 including 23 extremely metal-deficient (XMD) candidates with 12+log O/H<7.35. Ten out of sixteen XMDs known so far (or ~60%) have been discovered by our team using the direct method. Three XMDs were found in the present study. We study relations between global parameters of low-metallicity galaxies, including absolute optical magnitudes, Hbeta luminosities (or equivalently star formation rates), stellar masses, mid-infrared colours, and oxygen abundances. Low-metallicity and XMD galaxies strongly deviate to lower metallicities in L-Z, L(Hbeta)-Z and Mstar-Z diagrams than in relations obtained for large samples of low-redshift, star-forming galaxies with non-restricted metallicities. These less chemically evolved galaxies with stellar masses ~10^6-10^8Msun, Hbeta luminosities ~10^38-10^41 erg/s, SFR~0.01-1.0Msun/yr, and sSFR~50 Gyr^-1 have physical conditions which may be characteristic of high-redshift low-mass star-forming galaxies which are still awaiting discovery.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

The HI content of extremely metal-deficient blue compact dwarf galaxies

We have obtained new HI observations with the 100m Green Bank Telescope (GBT) for a sample of 29 extremely metal-deficient star-forming Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectral data base to be extremely metal-deficient (12+logO/H<7.6). Neutral hydrogen was detected in 28 galaxies, a 97% detection rate. Combining the HI data with SDSS optical spectra for the BCD sample and adding complementary galaxy samples from the literature to extend the metallicity and mass ranges, we have studied how the HI content of a galaxy varies with various global galaxian properties. There is a clear trend of increasing gas mass fraction with decreasing metallicity, mass and luminosity. We obtain the relation M(HI)/L(g)~L(g)^{-0.3}, in agreement with previous studies based on samples with a smaller luminosity range. The median gas mass fraction f(gas) for the GBT sample is equal to 0.94 while the mean gas mass fraction is 0.90+/-0.15, with a lower limit of ~0.65. The HI depletion time is independent of metallicity, with a large scatter around the median value of 3.4 Gyr. The ratio of the baryonic mass to the dynamical mass of the metal-deficient BCDs varies from 0.05 to 0.80, with a median value of ~0.2. About 65% of the BCDs in our sample have an effective yield larger than the true yield, implying that the neutral gas envelope in BCDs is more metal-deficient by a factor of 1.5-20, as compared to the ionized gas.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

The bursting nature of star formation in compact star-forming galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We study integrated characteristics of ~14000 low-redshift (0<z<1) compact star-forming galaxies (SFGs) selected from the Data Release 12 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It is found that emission of these galaxies is dominated by strong young bursts of star formation, implying that their luminosities experience rapid variations on a time scale of a few Myr. Reducing integrated characteristics of these galaxies to zero burst age would result in a considerably tighter and almost linear relation between stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR). The same correction implies that the specific star formation rate (the ratio of SFR and stellar mass) is not dependent on the galaxy stellar mass. We conclude that the correction for rapid luminosity evolution must be taken into account in a similar way when comparing different samples of low- and high-redshift SFGs. If the bursting nature of star formation and young burst ages are characteristics of the galaxies selected at high redshifts, the age correction of observed SFRs derived from the Hbeta emission line or UV continua would modify the derived SFR densities in the early universe.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

The ionizing photon production efficiency of compact z~0.3 Lyman continuum leakers and comparison with high redshift galaxies

We have recently discovered five Lyman continuum leaking galaxies at z~0.3, selected for their compactness, intense star-formation, and high [OIII]/[OII] ratio (Izotov et al. 2016ab). Here we derive their ionizing photon production efficiency, a fundamental quantity for inferring the number of photons available to reionize the Universe, for the first time for galaxies with confirmed strong Lyman continuum escape (fesc~6-13%). We find an ionizing photon production per unit UV luminosity, which is a factor 2-6 times higher than the canonical value when reported to their observed UV luminosity. After correction for extinction this value is close to the canonical value. The properties of our five Lyman continuum leakers are found to be very similar to those of the confirmed z=3.218 leaker Ion2 from de Barros et al. (2016) and very similar to those of typical star-forming galaxies at z>~6. Our results suggest that UV bright galaxies at high-z such as Lyman break galaxies can be Lyman continuum leakers and that their contribution to cosmic reionization may be underestimated.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Detection of high Lyman continuum leakage from four low-redshift compact star-forming galaxies

Following our first detection reported in Izotov et al. (2016), we present the detection of Lyman continuum (LyC) radiation of four other compact star-forming galaxies observed with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). These galaxies, at redshifts of z~0.3, are characterized by high emission-line flux ratios [OIII]5007/[OII]3727 > 5. The escape fractions of the LyC radiation fesc(LyC) in these galaxies are in the range of ~6%-13%, the highest values found so far in low-redshift star-forming galaxies. Narrow double-peaked Lyalpha emission lines are detected in the spectra of all four galaxies, compatible with predictions for Lyman continuum leakers. We find escape fractions of Lyalpha, fesc(Lyalpha) ~20%-40%, among the highest known for Lyalpha emitters (LAEs). Surface brightness profiles produced from the COS acquisition images reveal bright star-forming regions in the center and exponential discs in the outskirts with disc scale lengths alpha in the range ~0.6-1.4 kpc. Our galaxies are characterized by low metallicity, ~1/8-1/5 solar, low stellar mass ~(0.2 - 4)e9 Msun, high star formation rates SFR~14-36 Msun/yr, and high SFR densities Sigma~2-35 Msun/yr/kpc^2. These properties are comparable to those of high-redshift star-forming galaxies. Finally, our observations, combined with our first detection reported in Izotov et al. (2016), reveal that a selection for compact star-forming galaxies showing high [OIII]5007/[OII]3727 ratios appears to pick up very efficiently sources with escaping Lyman continuum radiation: all five of our selected galaxies are LyC leakers.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Lyman continuum leaking from the compact star-forming dwarf galaxy J0925+1403

One of the key questions in observational cosmology is the identification of the sources responsible for ionisation of the Universe after the cosmic Dark Ages, when the baryonic matter was neutral. The currently identified distant galaxies are insufficient to fully reionise the Universe by redshift z~6, but low-mass star-forming galaxies are thought to be responsible for the bulk of the ionising radiation. Since direct observations at high redshift are difficult for a variety of reasons, one solution is to identify local proxies of this galaxy population. However, starburst galaxies at low redshifts are generally opaque to their ionising radiation. This radiation with small escape fractions of 1-3% is directly detected only in three low-redshift galaxies. Here we present far-ultraviolet observations of a nearby low-mass star-forming galaxy, J0925+1403, selected for its compactness and high excitation. The galaxy is leaking ionising radiation, with an escape fraction of ~8%. The total number of photons emitted during the starburst phase is sufficient to ionize intergalactic medium material, which is about 40 times more massive than the stellar mass of the galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Near-infrared spectroscopy of a large sample of low-metallicity blue compact dwarf galaxies

We present near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic observations in the wavelength range 0.90-2.40mum of eighteen low-metallicity blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies and six HII regions in spiral and interacting galaxies. Hydrogen and helium emission lines are detected in all spectra, while H2 and iron emission lines are detected in most spectra. The NIR data for all objects have been supplemented by optical spectra. In all objects, except perhaps for the highest metallicity ones, we find that the extinctions A(V) in the optical and NIR ranges are similar, implying that the NIR hydrogen emission lines in low-metallicity BCDs do not reveal more star formation than seen in the optical. We conclude that emission-line spectra of low-metallicity BCDs in the 0.36-2.40mum wavelength range are emitted by a relatively transparent ionized gas. The H2 emission line fluxes can be accounted for by fluorescence in most of the observed galaxies. We find a decrease of the H2 2.122mum emission line relative to the Brgamma line with increasing ionization parameter. This indicates an efficient destruction of H2 by the stellar UV radiation. The intensities of the [FeII] 1.257mum and 1.644mum emission lines in the spectra of all galaxies, but one, are consistent with the predictions of Cloudy stellar photoinization models. There is thus no need to invoke shock excitation for these lines, and they are not necessarily shock indicators in low-metallicity high-excitation BCDs. The intensity of the HeI 2.058mum emission line is lower in high-excitation BCDs with lower neutral gas column densities and higher turbulent motions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

On the universality of luminosity-metallicity and mass-metallicity relations for compact star-forming galaxies at redshifts 0 < z < 3

We study relations between global characteristics of low-redshift (0 < z < 1) compact star-forming galaxies, including absolute optical magnitudes, Hbeta emission-line luminosities (or equivalently star-formation rates), stellar masses, and oxygen abundances. The sample consists of 5182 galaxies with high-excitation HII regions selected from the SDSS DR7 and SDSS/BOSS DR10 surveys adopting a criterion [OIII]4959/Hbeta > 1. These data were combined with the corresponding data for high-redshift (2 < z < 3) star-forming galaxies. We find that in all diagrams low-z and high-z star-forming galaxies are closely related indicating a very weak dependence of metallicity on stellar mass, redshift, and star-formation rate. This finding argues in favour of the universal character of the global relations for compact star-forming galaxies with high-excitation HII regions over redshifts 0 < z < 3.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

New candidates for extremely metal-poor emission-line galaxies in the SDSS/BOSS DR10

We present a spectroscopic study of eight extremely low-metallicity candidate emission-line galaxies with oxygen abundances possibly below 12 +log O/H = 7.35. These galaxies were selected from Data Release 10 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS/BOSS DR10). We will call these extremely metal-deficient galaxies XMD galaxies. The electron temperature-sensitive emission line [O~{\sc iii}] $λ$4363 is detected in three galaxies and marginally detected in two galaxies, allowing for abundance determination by a "direct" method. Because of large uncertainties in the [O {\sc iii}]$λ$4363Å line fluxes, we also calculated oxygen abundance in these galaxies together with the remaining three galaxies using a strong-line semi-empirical method. This method gives oxygen abundances higher than 7.35 for three galaxies with detected [O {\sc iii}]$λ$4363Å line and lower than 7.35 for the remaining five objects of the sample. The newly-discovered galaxies represent excellent targets for follow-up spectroscopic observations with the largest telescopes to improve the oxygen abundance determination and to increase the number of these very rare low-metallicity objects. The extreme location of the most massive and luminous XMD galaxies and XMD candidates in the stellar mass-metallicity diagram implies that these galaxies may be genuine young objects. With stellar masses of up to $\sim$ 10$^7$ - 10$^8$$M_{\odot}$, the galaxies are not chemically enriched and strongly deviate to lower metallicity as compared to the relation obtained for a large sample of low-redshift, star-forming galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

A new determination of the primordial He abundance using the HeI 10830A emission line: cosmological implications

We present near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the high-intensity HeI 10830 emission line in 45 low-metallicity HII regions. We combined these NIR data with spectroscopic data in the optical range to derive the primordial He abundance. The use of the HeI 10830A line, the intensity of which is very sensitive to the density of the HII region, greatly improves the determination of the physical conditions in the He^+ zone. This results in a considerably tighter Y - O/H linear regression compared to all previous studies. We extracted a final sample of 28 HII regions with Hbeta equivalent width EW(Hbeta)>150A, excitation parameter O^2+/O>0.8, and with helium mass fraction Y derived with an accuracy better than 3%. With this final sample we derived a primordial He mass fraction Yp = 0.2551+/-0.0022. The derived value of Yp is higher than the one predicted by the standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN) model. Using our derived Yp together with D/H = (2.53+/-0.04)x10^-5, and the chi^2 technique, we found that the best agreement between these light element abundances is achieved in a cosmological model with a baryon mass density Omega_b h^2 = 0.0240+/-0.0017 (68% CL), +/-0.0028 (95.4% CL), +/-0.0034 (99% CL) and an effective number of neutrino species Neff = 3.58+/-0.25 (68% CL), +/-0.40 (95.4% CL), +/-0.50 (99% CL). A non-standard value of Neff is preferred at the 99% CL, implying the possible existence of additional types of neutrino species.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Dust emission in star-forming dwarf galaxies: General properties and the nature of the sub-mm excess

We studied the global characteristics of dust emission in a large sample of emission-line star-forming galaxies. The sample consists of two subsamples. One subsample (SDSS sample) includes ~4000 compact star-forming galaxies from the SDSS, which were also detected in all four bands at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 mum of the WISE all-sky survey. The second subsample (Herschel sample) is a sample of 28 compact star-forming galaxies observed with Herschel in the FIR range. Data of the Herschel sample were supplemented by the photometric data from the Spitzer observations, GALEX, SDSS, WISE, 2MASS, NVSS, and FIRST surveys, as well as optical and Spitzer spectra and data in sub-mm and radio ranges. It is found that warm dust luminosities of galaxies from the SDSS sample and cold and warm dust luminosities of galaxies from the Herschel sample are strongly correlated with Hbeta luminosities, which implies that one of the main sources of dust heating in star-forming galaxies is ionising UV radiation of young stars. Using the relation between warm and cold dust masses for estimating the total dust mass in star-forming galaxies with an accuracy better than ~0.5 dex is proposed. On the other hand, it is shown for both samples that dust temperatures do not depend on the metallicities. The dust-to-neutral gas mass ratio strongly declines with decreasing metallicity, similar to that found in other studies of local emission-line galaxies, high-redshift GRB hosts, and DLAs. On the other hand, the dust-to-ionised gas mass ratio is about one hundred times as high implying that most of dust is located in the neutral gas. It is found that thermal free-free emission of ionised gas in compact star-forming galaxies might be responsible for the sub-mm emission excess. This effect is stronger in galaxies with lower metallicities and is also positively affected by an increased star-formation rate.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

The X-ray Properties of the Cometary Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies Mrk 59 and Mrk 71

We present XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of two low-metallicity cometary blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies, Mrk 59 and Mrk 71. The first BCD, Mrk 59, contains two ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) sources, IXO 72 and IXO 73, both associated with bright massive stars and H II complexes, as well as one fainter extended source associated with a massive H II complex at the head of the cometary structure. The low-metallicity of Mrk 59 appears to be responsible for the presence of the two ULXs. IXO 72 has varied little over the last 10 yr, while IXO 73 has demonstrated a variability factor of ~4 over the same period. The second BCD, Mrk 71, contains two faint X-ray point sources and two faint extended sources. One point source is likely a background AGN, while the other appears to be coincident with a very luminous star and a compact H II region at the "head" of the cometary structure. The two faint extended sources are also associated with massive H II complexes. Although both BCDs have the same metallicity, the three sources in Mrk 71 have X-ray luminosities ~1-2 orders of magnitude fainter than those in Mrk 59. The age of the starburst may play a role.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Multi-wavelength study of 14000 star-forming galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

(abridged) We studied a large sample of ~14000 dwarf star-forming galaxies with strong emission lines selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and distributed in the redshift range of z~0-0.6. We modelled spectral energy distributions (SED) of all galaxies which were based on the SDSS spectra in the visible range of 0.38-0.92 micron and included both the stellar and ionised gas emission. These SEDs were extrapolated to the UV and mid-infrared ranges to cover the wavelength range of 0.1-22 micron. The SDSS spectroscopic data were supplemented by photometric data from the GALEX, SDSS, 2MASS, WISE, IRAS, and NVSS all-sky surveys. We derived global characteristics of the galaxies, such as their element abundances, luminosities, and stellar masses. The luminosities and stellar masses range within the sample over ~5 orders of magnitude, thereby linking low-mass and low-luminosity blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies to luminous galaxies, which are similar to high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs). The luminosity L(Hbeta) of the Hbeta emission line, a characteristic of the youngest stellar population with an age of a few Myr, is correlated with luminosities in other wavelength ranges. This implies that the most recent burst of star formation makes a significant contribution to the emission in the visible range and dominates in other wavelength ranges. We found 20 galaxies with very red WISE mid-infrared m(3.4micron)-m(4.6micron) colour (>2 mag), which suggests the important contribution of the hot (with a temperature of several hundred degree) dust emission in these galaxies. Our analysis of the balance between the luminosity in the WISE bands that covered a wavelength range of 3.4-22 micron and the luminosity of the emission absorbed at shorter wavelengths showed that the luminosity of the hot dust emission is increased with increasing L(Hbeta) and EW(Hbeta).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Primordial 4He abundance: a determination based on the largest sample of HII regions with a methodology tested on model HII regions

We verified the validity of the empirical method to derive the 4He abundance used in our previous papers by applying it to CLOUDY (v13.01) models. Using newly published HeI emissivities, for which we present convenient fits as well as the output CLOUDY case B hydrogen and HeI line intensities, we found that the empirical method is able to reproduce the input CLOUDY 4He abundance with an accuracy of better than 1%. The CLOUDY output data also allowed us to derive the non-recombination contribution to the intensities of the strongest Balmer hydrogen Halpha, Hbeta, Hgamma, and Hdelta emission lines and the ionisation correction factors for He. With these improvements we used our updated empirical method to derive the 4He abundances and to test corrections for several systematic effects in a sample of 1610 spectra of low-metallicity extragalactic HII regions, the largest sample used so far. From this sample we extracted a subsample of 111 HII regions with Hbeta equivalent width EW(Hbeta) > 150A, with excitation parameter x = O^{2+}/O > 0.8, and with helium mass fraction Y derived with an accuracy better than 3%. With this subsample we derived the primordial 4He mass fraction Yp = 0.254+/-0.003 from linear regression Y-O/H. The derived value of Yp is higher at the 68% confidence level (CL) than that predicted by the standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN) model, possibly implying the existence of different types of neutrino species in addition to the three known types of active neutrinos. Using the most recently derived primordial abundances D/H = (2.60+/-0.12)x10^{-5} and Yp = 0.254+/-0.003 and the chi^2 technique, we found that the best agreement between abundances of these light elements is achieved in a cosmological model with baryon mass density Omegab h^2 = 0.0234+/-0.0019 (68% CL) and an effective number of the neutrino species Neff = 3.51+/-0.35 (68% CL).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

The Mg II 2797, 2803 emission in low-metallicity star-forming galaxies from the SDSS

We present 65 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra of 62 star-forming galaxies with oxygen abundances 12 + logO/H ~ 7.5-8.4. Redshifts of selected galaxies are in the range z~0.36-0.70. This allows us to detect the redshifted MgII 2797,2803 emission lines. Our aim is to use these lines for the magnesium abundance determination. The MgII emission was detected in ~2/3 of the galaxies. We find that the MgII 2797 emission-line intensity follows a trend with the excitation parameter x= O^{2+}/O that is similar to that predicted by CLOUDY photoionised HII region models, suggesting a nebular origin of MgII emission. The Mg/O abundance ratio is lower by a factor ~2 than the solar ratio. This is probably the combined effect of interstellar MgII absorption and depletion of Mg onto dust. However, the effect of dust depletion in selected galaxies, if present, is small, by a factor of ~2 lower than that of iron.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

The detection of [Ne v] emission in five blue compact dwarf galaxies

We report the discovery of the high-ionisation [Ne v] 3426A emission line in the spectra of five blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies. Adding the three previously known BCDs with [Ne v] emission, the entire sample of such galaxies now contains eight objects. The detection of this line implies the presence of intense hard ionising radiation. Such radiation cannot be reproduced by models of high-mass X-ray binaries or massive stellar populations. Other mechanisms, such as AGN and/or fast radiative shocks, are needed. We consider that fast radiative shocks is the most likely mechanism. The observed [Ne v] 3426/He ii 4686 flux ratios in all eight galaxies can be reproduced by radiative shock models with shock velocities in the ~300-500 km/s range, and with the shock ionising contribution being ~10% of the stellar ionising contribution. However, we cannot rule out that this 10% part is produced by an AGN rather than by radiative shocks.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Hα and UV luminosities and star formation rates in a large sample of luminous compact galaxies

We present the results of a statistical study of the star formation rates (SFR) derived from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) observations in the ultraviolet continuum and in the Hαemission line for a sample of about 800 luminous compact galaxies (LCGs). Galaxies in this sample have a compact structure and include one or several regions of active star formation. Global galaxy characteristics (metallicity, luminosity, stellar mass) are intermediate between ones of the nearby blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies and Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at high redshifts z > 2 - 3. SFRs were corrected for interstellar extinction which was derived from the optical Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra. We find that SFRs derived from the galaxy luminosities in the far ultraviolet (FUV) and near ultraviolet (NUV) ranges vary in a wide range from 0.18 M_Sun/yr to 113 M_Sun/yr with median values of 3.8 M_Sun/yr and 5.2 M_Sun/yr, respectively. Simple regression relations are found for luminosities L(Hα) and L(UV) as functions of the mass of the young stellar population, the starburst age, and the galaxy metallicity. We consider the evolution of L(Hα), L(FUV) and L(NUV) with a starburst age and introduce new characteristics of star formation, namely the initial Hα, FUV and NUV luminosities at zero starburst age.

astro-ph.CO↗