Images IV: strong evolution of the oxygen abundance in gaseous phases of intermediate mass galaxies from z~0.8

Rodrigues, M. ; Hammer, F. ; Flores, H. ; Puech, M. ; Liang, Y. C. ; Fuentes-Carrera, I. ; Nesvadba, N. ; Lehnert, M. ; Yang, Y. ; Amram, P. ; Balkowski, C. ; Cesarsky, C. ; Dannerbauer, H. ; Delgado, R. ; Guiderdoni, B. ; Kembhavi, A. ; Neichel, B. ; Ostlin, G. ; Pozzetti, L. ; Ravikumar, C. D. ; Rawat, A. ; di Serego Alighieri, S. ; Vergani, D. ; Vernet, J. ; Wozniak, H. (2008) Images IV: strong evolution of the oxygen abundance in gaseous phases of intermediate mass galaxies from z~0.8 Astronomy & Astrophysics, 492 (2). pp. 371-388. ISSN 0004-6361

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Official URL: http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2008/47/aa104...

Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200810435

Abstract

Context: Intermediate mass galaxies (> 1010 M) at z ~ 0.6 are the likeliest progenitors of the present-day, numerous population of spirals. There is growing evidence that they have evolved rapidly in the last 6 to 8 Gyr, and likely already have formed a significant fraction of their stellar mass, often showing perturbed morphologies and kinematics. Aims: We have gathered a representative sample of 88 such galaxies and have provided robust estimates of their gas phase metallicity. Methods: We used moderate spectral resolution spectroscopy at VLT/FORS2 with an unprecedentedly high S/N allowing us to remove biases coming from interstellar absorption lines and extinction, to establish robust values of R23 = ([OII] λ3727 + [OIII]λλ4959, 5007)/H β . Results: We definitively confirm that the predominant population of z ~ 0.6 starbursts and luminous IR galaxies (LIRGs) are on average two times less metal rich than the local galaxies at a given stellar mass. We do find that the metal abundance of the gaseous phase of galaxies evolves linearly with time, from z = 1 to z = 0 and after comparing with other studies, from z = 3 to z = 0. Combining our results with the reported evolution of the Tully Fisher relation, we find that such an evolution requires that ~30% of the stellar mass of local galaxies have been formed through an external supply of gas, thus excluding the closed box model. Distant starbursts & LIRGs have properties (metal abundance, star formation efficiency & morphologies) similar to those of local LIRGs. Their underlying physics is likely dominated by gas infall, probably through merging or interactions. Conclusions: Our study further supports the rapid evolution of z ~ 0.4-1 galaxies. Gas exchange between galaxies is likely the main cause of this evolution.

Item Type:Article
Source:Copyright of this article belongs to European Southern Observatory.
Keywords:Galaxies: Evolution; Galaxies: ISM; Galaxies: Spiral; Galaxies: Starburst; Infrared: Galaxies
ID Code:25419
Deposited On:06 Dec 2010 13:25
Last Modified:17 May 2016 08:54

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