The metallicities of luminous, massive field galaxies at intermediate redshifts

M. Mouhcine; S. P. Bamford; A. Aragon-Salamanca; O. Nakamura

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10360.x

paper

The metallicities of luminous, massive field galaxies at intermediate redshifts

arXiv:astro-ph/0603639 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10360.x

Abstract

We derive oxygen abundances for a sample of 40 luminous (M_{B} < -19), star-forming, mostly disk, field galaxies with redshifts in the range 0.2 < z < 0.8 $, w i t ham e d ian o f < z >= 0.45. O x y g e nab u n d an ces, r e l a t i v e t o h y d r o g e n, o f t h e in t er s t e l l a r e mi tt in g g a s a r ees t ima t e d b y m e an so f t h ee m p i r i c a l l y c a l ib r a t e d s t r o n g e mi ss i o n l in er a t i o t ec hni q u e . T h e d er i v e d (12 + l o g (O / H)) v a l u esr an g e f r o m 8.4 t o 9.0, w i t ham e d ian o f 8.7. T w e n t y o f t h ese g a l a x i es ha v esec u r e l y m e a s u r e d r o t a t i o n v e l oc i t i es, in t h er an g e 50 - - 244 k m / s . T h e m e a s u r e d e mi ss i o n l in ee q u i v a l e n tw i d t h s an dd ia g n os t i cr a t i os f or t h e in t er m e d ia t er e d s hi f t g a l a x i esco v er s imi l a r r an g es t o t h oseo b ser v e d a cr oss a l a r g es am pl eo f l oc a l g a l a x i es . T h ees t ima t e d o x y g e nab u n d an ces f or o u r l u min o u ss t a r - f or min g in t er m e d ia t er e d s hi f t g a l a x i esco v er t h es am er an g e a s t h e i r l oc a l co u n t er p a r t s . H o w e v er, a t a g i v e n g a l a x y l u min os i t y, man y o f o u r g a l a x i es ha v es i g ni f i c an tl y l o w er o x y g e nab u n d an ces, i . e .,$ (12+log(O/H))~8.6$, than local galaxies with similar luminosities. Interestingly, these luminous, massive, intermediate redshift, star-forming galaxies with low oxygen abundances exhibit physical conditions, i.e., emission line equivalent width and ionization state, very similar to those of local faint and metal-poor star-forming galaxies. The oxygen abundance of the interstellar gas does not seem to correlate with the maximum rotation velocity or the emission scale length of the parent galaxy. This suggests that there is a diversity in the intrinsic properties of the massive field galaxy population at intermediate redshifts (ABRIDGED).

19 pages, 14 figures, MNRAS in press

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Star formation rates and chemical abundances of emission line galaxies in intermediate-redshift clusters

The metallicities of luminous, massive field galaxies at intermediate redshifts

Abstract

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