The Mosdef survey: Detection of [O III]λ4363 and the direct-method oxygen abundance of a star-forming galaxy at z = 3.08

Ryan L. Sanders; Alice E. Shapley; Mariska Kriek; Naveen A. Reddy; William R. Freeman; Alison L. Coil; Brian Siana; Bahram Mobasher; Irene Shivaei; Sedona H. Price; Laura De Groot

doi:10.3847/2041-8205/825/2/L23

The Mosdef survey: Detection of [O III]λ4363 and the direct-method oxygen abundance of a star-forming galaxy at z = 3.08

Ryan L. Sanders, Alice E. Shapley, Mariska Kriek, Naveen A. Reddy, William R. Freeman, Alison L. Coil, Brian Siana, Bahram Mobasher, Irene Shivaei, Sedona H. Price, Laura De Groot

Physics And Astronomy

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Abstract

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 > 2. We estimate an oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.00_-0.14+^0.13. This galaxy is a low-mass (10^9.3 M_⊙), highly star-forming (∼50M_⊙ yr^-1) 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 < 0.14), and a high electron density (n_e ∼ 500 cm^-3). 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.

Original language	English
Article number	L23
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	825
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/825/2/L23
State	Published - Jul 10 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Based on data obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Keywords

galaxies: evolution
galaxies: high-redshift
galaxies: ISM

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.3847/2041-8205/825/2/L23

Cite this

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., & Groot, L. D. (2016). The Mosdef survey: Detection of [O III]λ4363 and the direct-method oxygen abundance of a star-forming galaxy at z = 3.08. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 825(2), Article L23. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/825/2/L23

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title = "The Mosdef survey: Detection of [O III]λ4363 and the direct-method oxygen abundance of a star-forming galaxy at z = 3.08",

abstract = "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 > 2. We estimate an oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.00-0.14+0.13. This galaxy is a low-mass (109.3 M⊙), highly star-forming (∼50M⊙ yr-1) 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 < 0.14), and a high electron density (ne ∼ 500 cm-3). 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.",

keywords = "galaxies: evolution, galaxies: high-redshift, galaxies: ISM",

author = "Sanders, {Ryan L.} and Shapley, {Alice E.} and Mariska Kriek and Reddy, {Naveen A.} and Freeman, {William R.} and Coil, {Alison L.} and Brian Siana and Bahram Mobasher and Irene Shivaei and Price, {Sedona H.} and Groot, {Laura De}",

note = "Funding Information: Based on data obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.",

year = "2016",

month = jul,

day = "10",

doi = "10.3847/2041-8205/825/2/L23",

language = "English",

volume = "825",

number = "2",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - The Mosdef survey

T2 - Detection of [O III]λ4363 and the direct-method oxygen abundance of a star-forming galaxy at z = 3.08

AU - Sanders, Ryan L.

AU - Shapley, Alice E.

AU - Kriek, Mariska

AU - Reddy, Naveen A.

AU - Freeman, William R.

AU - Coil, Alison L.

AU - Siana, Brian

AU - Mobasher, Bahram

AU - Shivaei, Irene

AU - Price, Sedona H.

AU - Groot, Laura De

N1 - Funding Information: Based on data obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. Publisher Copyright: © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

PY - 2016/7/10

Y1 - 2016/7/10

N2 - 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 > 2. We estimate an oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.00-0.14+0.13. This galaxy is a low-mass (109.3 M⊙), highly star-forming (∼50M⊙ yr-1) 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 < 0.14), and a high electron density (ne ∼ 500 cm-3). 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.

AB - 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 > 2. We estimate an oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.00-0.14+0.13. This galaxy is a low-mass (109.3 M⊙), highly star-forming (∼50M⊙ yr-1) 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 < 0.14), and a high electron density (ne ∼ 500 cm-3). 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.

KW - galaxies: evolution

KW - galaxies: high-redshift

KW - galaxies: ISM

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VL - 825

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

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ER -

The Mosdef survey: Detection of [O III]λ4363 and the direct-method oxygen abundance of a star-forming galaxy at z = 3.08

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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