Bibcode
Sánchez Almeida, J.; Elmegreen, B. G.; Muñoz-Tuñón, C.; Elmegreen, D. M.; Pérez-Montero, E.; Amorín, R.; Filho, M. E.; Ascasibar, Y.; Papaderos, P.; Vílchez, J. M.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 810, Issue 2, article id. L15, 5 pp. (2015).
Advertised on:
9
2015
Citations
80
Refereed citations
71
Description
Models of galaxy formation predict that gas accretion from the cosmic
web is a primary driver of star formation over cosmic history. Except in
very dense environments where galaxy mergers are also important, model
galaxies feed from cold streams of gas from the web that penetrate their
dark matter halos. Although these predictions are unambiguous, the
observational support has been indirect so far. Here, we report
spectroscopic evidence for this process in extremely metal-poor galaxies
(XMPs) of the local universe, taking the form of localized starbursts
associated with gas having low metallicity. Detailed abundance analyses
based on Gran Telescopio Canarias optical spectra of 10 XMPs show that
the galaxy hosts have metallicities around 60% solar, on average, while
the large star-forming regions that dominate their integrated light have
low metallicities of some 6% solar. Because gas mixes azimuthally in a
rotation timescale (a few hundred Myr), the observed metallicity
inhomogeneities are only possible if the metal-poor gas fell onto the
disk recently. We analyze several possibilities for the origin of the
metal-poor gas, favoring the metal-poor gas infall predicted by
numerical models. If this interpretation is correct, XMPs trace the
cosmic web gas in their surroundings, making them probes to examine its
properties.
Related projects
Starbursts in Galaxies GEFE
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
Casiana
Muñoz Tuñón