2016ApJ...825L..23S -
Astrophys. J., 825, L23-L23 (2016/July-2)
The MOSDEF survey: detection of [o III]λ4363 and the direct-method oxygen abundance of a star-forming galaxy at z = 3.08.
SANDERS R.L., SHAPLEY A.E., KRIEK M., REDDY N.A., FREEMAN W.R., COIL A.L., SIANA B., MOBASHER B., SHIVAEI I., PRICE S.H. and DE GROOT L.
Abstract (from CDS):
We present measurements of the electron-temperature-based oxygen abundance for a highly star-forming galaxy at z=3.08, COSMOS-1908. This is the highest redshift at which [O iii]λ4363 has been detected and the first time that this line has been measured at z\gt 2 . We estimate an oxygen abundance of 12+log(Ø/H)={8.00}_{-0.14}^{+0.13} . This galaxy is a low-mass ( {10}^{9.3} {M}_☉ ), highly star-forming (∼50 {M}_☉/yr) system that hosts a young stellar population (∼160 Myr). We investigate the physical conditions of the ionized gas in COSMOS-1908 and find that this galaxy has a high ionization parameter, little nebular reddening ( E{(B-V)}_{gas}\lt 0.14 ), and a high electron density ( {n}_{e}∼500/cm3). We compare the ratios of strong oxygen, neon, and hydrogen lines to the direct-method oxygen abundance for COSMOS-1908 and additional star-forming galaxies at z=0-1.8 with [O iii]λ4363 measurements and show that galaxies at z∼1–3 follow the same strong-line correlations as galaxies in the local universe. This agreement suggests that the relationship between ionization parameter and O/H is similar for z∼0 and high-redshift galaxies. These results imply that metallicity calibrations based on lines of oxygen, neon, and hydrogen do not strongly evolve with redshift and can reliably estimate abundances out to z∼3 , paving the way for robust measurements of the evolution of the mass-metallicity relation to high redshift.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Journal keyword(s):
galaxies: evolution - galaxies: high-redshift - galaxies: ISM
CDS comments:
COSMOS-1908 is COSMOS 1621700 in SIMBAD.
Simbad objects:
2
Full paper
View the references in ADS
To bookmark this query, right click on this link: simbad:2016ApJ...825L..23S and select 'bookmark this link' or equivalent in the popup menu