Start year
1992
Organizational Unit
Organizing institutions
Grants related:
General
Description
Starsbursts play a key role in the cosmic evolution of galaxies, and thus in the star formation (SF) history of the universe, the production of metals, and the feedback coupling galaxies with the cosmic web. Extreme SF conditions prevail early on during the formation of the first stars and galaxies, therefore, the starburst phenomenon constitutes a fundamental ingredient of our understanding of the Universe. Starbursts are observed throughout, from the giant HII regions in nearby spirals, to the massive clumps typical of high redshift objects. This project is aimed at carrying out a comprehensive study of the physics of local massive SF regions in order to enlarge our understanding of the most distant galaxies and most extreme starbursts. We combine observational studies (using ground-based and space-borne spectrophotometry) along with our self-consistent theoretical models. Among the observational facilities, the team is directly involved in the development and scientific exploitation of the GTC instruments EMIR and MEGARA, which will become operational during the timespan of the project.
We have structured our research for the next three years around five main objectives:
1) The interplay between massive SF and the interstellar medium within galaxies.
2) Understanding the formation of disk galaxies.
3) The role of the environment on massive SF and the evolution of galaxies.
4) Extreme starbursting in the early Universe.
5) Participation in the science verification and building of new instrumentation.
The main results expected from this project include: i) constraining the chemical evolution of galaxies using a combination of integral-field spectroscopy and fully bi-dimensional models, ii) understanding the role of molecular gas and high-energy background photons on the formation of galaxies, iii) developing a technique to image the cosmic web gas that feeds the starbursts, iv) characterizing the chemical and dynamical properties of the gas that is falling into the galaxies, v) deciphering the different ways in which the environment can affect the SF in star-forming galaxies along cosmic time; paying special attention to the triggering of violent SF bursts in the lowest metallicity galaxies. vi) explaining how very massive and compact starbursts may evolve in the so-called positive feedback mode, accounting for extreme starbursts in local galaxy analogs to the objects present in the primeval universe. vii) understanding the SF in Lya and Ly-break galaxies, viii) constraining the existence of candidate stars analog to PopIII in extremely metal-poor galaxies, both in the local universe and at high redshift, ix) developing the know-how needed for effective use of EMIR and MEGARA. We aim at getting the most from these new instruments by leading science cases during verification phase and later on.
Members
Principal investigator
Casiana
Muñoz Tuñón
Project staff
Collaborators
Nicola
Caon
José Alfonso
López Aguerri
Jairo
Méndez Abreu
Jorge Francisco
Sánchez Almeida
Antonia
Varela Pérez
Dr.
Nieves D. Castro Rodriguez
Dr.
Cecilia Fariña
Dr.
Daniel Reverte Paya
Claudio
Dalla Vecchia
Artemio
Herrero Davo
Dr.
Ricardo Amorin Barbieri
Dr.
Irene Cruz-González
Dr.
Erika Benitez
Dr.
Omaira González Martín
Dr.
Rafael Guzmán Llorente
Dr.
David Sobral
Dr.
Eduard Salvador Solé
Dr.
Miguel Mas Hesse
Dr.
Jesus Gallego Maestro
Dr.
Guillermo Tenorio Tagle
Dr.
Sergio Martinez
Dr.
Pablo Perez Gonzalez
Dr.
Bruce Elmegreen
Dr.
Debra Elmegreen
Results
- Local anticorrelation between star formation rate and gas-phase metallicity in disc galaxies Using a representative sample of 14 star-forming dwarf galaxies in the local Universe, we show the existence of a spaxel-to-spaxel anticorrelation between the index N2 ≡ log ([N II]λ 6583/H α ) and the H α flux.
- Discovery of a high-metallicity low mass galaxy, confirming the stochasticity of the cosmic web gas feed star formation
- Pyroclastic Blowout: Dust Survival in Supernovi Events
- A simultaneous search for high-z LAEs and LBGs in the SHARDS survey.We derive redshifts, star formation rates, Lyα equivalent widths, and luminosity functions (LFs). Grouping within our sample is also studied, finding 92 pairs or small groups of galaxies
- A possible binary AGN has been found in Mrk 622.
Scientific activity
Related publications
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Supermassive black hole wake or bulgeless edge-on galaxy?. II. Order-of-magnitude analysis of the two physical scenariosContext. A recently discovered thin long object aligned with a nearby galaxy could be the stellar wake induced by the passage of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) kicked out from the nearby galaxy by the slingshot effect of a three-body encounter of SMBHs. Alternatively, the object could be a bulgeless edge-on galaxy coincidentally aligned with aSánchez Almeida, J.
Advertised on:
102023 -
Can Cuspy Dark-matter-dominated Halos Hold Cored Stellar Mass Distributions?According to the current concordance cosmological model, dark matter (DM) particles are collisionless and produce self-gravitating structures with a central cusp, which, generally, is not observed. The observed density tends to a central plateau or core, explained within the cosmological model through the gravitational feedback of baryons on DMSánchez Almeida, Jorge et al.
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92023 -
The PAU survey: classifying low-z SEDs using Machine Learning clusteringWe present an application of unsupervised Machine Learning clustering to the PAU survey of galaxy spectral energy distribution (SED) within the COSMOS field. The clustering algorithm is implemented and optimized to get the relevant groups in the data SEDs. We find 12 groups from a total number of 5234 targets in the survey at 0.01 < z < 0.28. AmongGonzález-Morán, A. L. et al.
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92023 -
Supermassive black hole wake or bulgeless edge-on galaxy?A recent paper reported the serendipitous discovery of a thin linear object interpreted as the trail of star-forming regions left behind by a runaway supermassive black hole (SMBH) kicked out from the center of a galaxy. Despite the undeniable interest in the idea, the actual physical interpretation is not devoid of difficulty. The wake of a SMBHSánchez Almeida, Jorge et al.
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52023 -
Spatially resolved chemodynamics of the starburst dwarf galaxy CGCG 007-025: evidence for recent accretion of metal-poor gasNearby metal-poor starburst dwarf galaxies present a unique opportunity to probe the physics of high-density star formation with a detail and sensitivity unmatched by any observation of the high-z Universe. Here, we present the first results from a chemodynamical study of the nearby, gas-rich starburst dwarf CGCG 007-025. We use VLT/MUSE integraldel Valle-Espinosa, Macarena G. et al.
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62023 -
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Tadpole Galaxies Kiso3867, SBS0, SBS1, and UM461Tadpole galaxies are metal-poor dwarfs with typically one dominant star-forming region, giving them a head-tail structure when inclined. A metallicity drop in the head suggests that gas accretion with even lower metallicity stimulated the star formation. Here we present multiband Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys images ofElmegreen, Debra Meloy et al.
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122022 -
The Principle of Maximum Entropy and the Distribution of Mass in GalaxiesWe do not have a final answer to the question of why galaxies choose a particular internal mass distribution. Here we examine whether the distribution is set by thermodynamic equilibrium (TE). Traditionally, TE is discarded for a number of reasons including the inefficiency of two-body collisions to thermalize the mass distribution in a Hubble timeSánchez Almeida, Jorge
Advertised on:
32022 -
Dwarf Galaxies with Central Cores in Modified Newtonian Dynamics GravitySome dwarf galaxies are within the Mondian regime at all radii, i.e., the gravitational acceleration provided by the observed baryons is always below the threshold of g † ≃ 1.2 × 10 -10 m s -2. These dwarf galaxies often show cores, in the sense that, assuming Newton's gravity to explain their rotation curves, the total density profile ρ(r)Sánchez Almeida, J.
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112022 -
EMIR, the near-infrared camera and multi-object spectrograph for the GTC. EMIR at GTCWe present EMIR, a powerful near-infrared (NIR) camera and multi-object spectrograph (MOS) installed at the Nasmyth focus of the 10.4 m GTC. EMIR was commissioned in mid-2016 and is offered as a common-user instrument. It provides spectral coverage of 0.9-2.5 µm over a field of view (FOV) of 6.67' × 6.67' in imaging mode, and 6.67' × 4' inGarzón, F. et al.
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112022 -
Studying a precessing jet of a massive young stellar object within a chemically rich regionAims: In addition to the large surveys and catalogs of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and outflows, dedicated studies are needed of particular sources in which high angular observations, mainly at near-IR and (sub)millimeter wavelengths, are analyzed in depth, to shed light on the processes involved in the formation of massive stars. TheParon, S. et al.
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102022 -
Discovery of Faint Double-peak Hα Emission in the Halo of Low Redshift GalaxiesAimed at the detection of cosmological gas being accreted onto galaxies in the local universe, we examined the Hα emission in the halo of 164 galaxies in the field of view of the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer Wide survey (MUSE-Wide) with observable Hα (redshift <0.42). An exhaustive screening of the corresponding Hα images led us to select 118Sánchez Almeida, J. et al.
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82022 -
(Re)Solving reionization with Lyα: how bright Lyα Emitters account for the z ≍ 2-8 cosmic ionizing backgroundThe cosmic ionizing emissivity from star-forming galaxies has long been anchored to UV luminosity functions. Here, we introduce an emissivity framework based on Lyα emitters (LAEs), which naturally hones in on the subset of galaxies responsible for the ionizing background due to the intimate connection between production and escape of Lyα and LyCMatthee, Jorryt et al.
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62022 -
The synchrony of production and escape: half the bright Lyα emitters at z ≍ 2 have Lyman continuum escape fractions ≍50The ionizing photon escape fraction [Lyman continuum (LyC) f esc] of star-forming galaxies is the single greatest unknown in the reionization budget. Stochastic sightline effects prohibit the direct separation of LyC leakers from non-leakers at significant redshifts. Here we circumvent this uncertainty by inferring f esc using resolved (R > 4000)Naidu, Rohan P. et al.
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32022 -
High-resolution Hα imaging of the northern Galactic plane and the IGAPS image databaseThe INT Galactic Plane Survey (IGAPS) is the merger of the optical photometric surveys IPHAS and UVEX based on data from the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) obtained between 2003 and 2018. It captures the entire northern Galactic plane within the Galactic coordinate range |b|< 5° and 30° < ℓ < 215°. From the beginning, the incorporation of narrow-bandGreimel, R. et al.
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112021 -
Physically Motivated Fit to Mass Surface Density Profiles Observed in GalaxiesPolytropes have gained renewed interest because they account for several seemingly disconnected observational properties of galaxies. Here we study whether polytropes are also able to explain the stellar mass distribution within galaxies. We develop a code to fit surface density profiles using polytropes projected in the plane of the sky (propols)Sánchez Almeida, Jorge et al.
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112021 -
The Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C) Data Release 3: 3000 High-quality Spectra of K<SUB>s</SUB>-selected Galaxies at z > 0.6We present the third and final data release of the Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C), an ESO/Very Large Telescope public spectroscopic survey targeting 0.6 < z < 1.0, K s-selected galaxies. The data release contains 3528 spectra with measured stellar velocity dispersions and stellar population properties, a 25-fold increase in samplevan der Wel, Arjen et al.
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102021 -
The Mass-Metallicity Relation at z 1-2 and Its Dependence on the Star Formation RateWe present a new measurement of the gas-phase mass-metallicity relation (MZR) and its dependence on star formation rates (SFRs) at 1.3 < z < 2.3. Our sample comprises 1056 galaxies with a mean redshift of z = 1.9, identified from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) grism spectroscopy in the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared DeepHenry, Alaina et al.
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102021 -
The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-α emitters from z 2 to z 6We measure the evolution of the rest-frame UV luminosity function (LF) and the stellar mass function (SMF) of Lyman-α (Ly α) emitters (LAEs) from z ~ 2 to z ~ 6 by exploring ~4000 LAEs from the SC4K sample. We find a correlation between Ly α luminosity (L Ly α) and rest-frame UV (M UV), with best fit M$_{\rm UV}=-1.6_{-0.3}^{+0.2}\log _{10} (\rm L_Santos, S. et al.
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72021 -
The X-SHOOTER Lyman α survey at z = 2 (XLS-z2) I: what makes a galaxy a Lyman α emitter?We present the first results from the X-SHOOTER Lyman α survey at z = 2 (XLS-z2). XLS-z2 is a deep spectroscopic survey of 35 Lyman α emitters (LAEs) utilizing ≍90 h of exposure time with Very Large Telescope/X-SHOOTER and covers rest-frame Ly α to H α emission with R ≍ 4000. We present the sample selection, the observations, and the data reductionMatthee, Jorryt et al.
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72021 -
History of the gas fuelling star formation in EAGLE galaxiesTheory predicts that cosmological gas accretion plays a fundamental role fuelling star formation in galaxies. However, a detailed description of the accretion process to be used when interpreting observations is still lacking. Using the state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulation EAGLE, we work out the chemical inhomogeneities arisingScholz-Díaz, Laura et al.
Advertised on:
82021
