Long-slit Spectroscopy of Edge-on Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

Abstract

We present long-slit optical spectra of 12 edge-on low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) positioned along their major axes. After performing reddening corrections for the emission-line fluxes measured from the extracted integrated spectra, we measured the gas-phase metallicities of our LSBG sample using both the [NII]/Ha and the R_23 diagnostics. Both sets of oxygen abundances show good agreement with each other, giving a median value of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.26 dex. In the luminosity-metallicity plot, our LSBG sample is consistent with the behavior of normal galaxies. In the mass-metallicity diagram, our LSBG sample has lower metallicities for lower stellar mass, similar to normal galaxies. The stellar masses estimated from z-band luminosities are comparable to those of prominent spirals. In a plot of the gas mass fraction versus metallicity, our LSBG sample generally agrees with other samples in the high gas mass fraction space. Additionally, we have studied stellar populations of 3 LSBGs which have relatively reliable spectral continua and high signal-to-noise ratios, and qualitatively conclude that they have a potential dearth of stars with ages <1 Gyr instead of being dominated by stellar populations with ages >1Gyr. Regarding the chemical evolution of our sample, the LSBG data appear to allow for up to 30 % metal loss, but we cannot completely rule out the closed-box model. Additionally, we find evidence that our galaxies retain up to about 3 times as much of their metals compared with dwarfs, consistent with metal retention being related to galaxy mass. In conclusion, our data support the view that LSBGs are probably just normal disk galaxies continuously extending to the low end of surface brightness.

48 pages in AAS format, 7 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in the ApJ

References in corpus (5)

• The Catalog of Edge-on Disk Galaxies from SDSS. Part I: the catalog and the Structural Parameters of Stellar Disks
• Low Surface Brightness Galaxies selected from the 40% sky area of the ALFALFA HI survey.I.Sample and statistical properties
• An optical search for Low Surface Brightness Galaxies in the Arecibo HI Strip Survey
• Low Surface Brightness Galaxies around the HDF-S: II. Distances and volume densities
• The HI dominated Low Surface Brightness Galaxy KKR17

Cited by in corpus (10)

• The physics of gas phase metallicity gradients in galaxies
• A Sample of Edge-on HI-rich low-surface-brightness Galaxy Candidates in the 40% ALFALFA Catalog
• Edge-on Low-surface-brightness Galaxy Candidates Detected from SDSS Images Using YOLO
• Understanding the chemical evolution of blue Edge-on Low Surface Brightness Galaxies
• The vertical structure of the spiral galaxy NGC 3501: first stages of the formation of a thin metal-rich disc
• Oxygen Loss from Simulated Galaxies and the Metal Flow Main Sequence: Predicting the Dependence on Mass and Environment
• UV and NIR size of the HI selected low surface brightness galaxies
• Low surface brightness galaxies from BASS+MzLS with Machine Learning
• MUSE Study of Two Giant Low-surface-brightness Galaxies with Compact Satellites
• SDSS J170745+302056: a low surface brightness galaxy in a group