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Journal article
Large-scale Environmental Dependence of the Abundance Ratio of Nitrogen to Oxygen in Blue, Star-forming Galaxies Fainter than L-
The Astrophysical journal, v 837(1)
01 Mar 2017
Abstract
We examine how the cosmic environment affects the chemical evolution of galaxies in the universe by comparing the N/O ratio of dwarf galaxies in voids with that of dwarf galaxies in denser regions. Ratios of the forbidden [O III] and [S II] transitions provide estimates of a region's electron temperature and number density. We estimate the abundances of oxygen and nitrogen using these temperature and density estimates and the emission-line fluxes [O II] lambda 3727, [O III] lambda lambda 4959, 5007, and [N II] lambda lambda 6548, 6584 with the direct T-e method. Using spectroscopic observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we are able to estimate the N/O ratio in 42 void dwarf galaxies and 89 dwarf galaxies in denser regions. The N/O ratio for void dwarfs (M-r > -17) is slightly lower (similar to 12%) than for dwarf galaxies in denser regions. We also estimate the nitrogen and oxygen abundances of 2050 void galaxies and 3883 galaxies in denser regions with M-r > -20. These somewhat brighter galaxies (but still fainter than L*) also display similar minor shifts in the N/O ratio. The shifts in the average and median element abundance values in all absolute magnitude bins studied are in the same direction, suggesting that the large-scale environment may influence the chemical evolution of galaxies. We discuss possible causes of such a large-scale environmental dependence of the chemical evolution of galaxies, including retarded star formation and a higher ratio of dark matter halo mass to stellar mass in void galaxies.
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Details
- Title
- Large-scale Environmental Dependence of the Abundance Ratio of Nitrogen to Oxygen in Blue, Star-forming Galaxies Fainter than L-
- Creators
- Kelly A. Douglass - Drexel Univ, Dept Phys, 3141 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USAMichael S. Vogeley - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- The Astrophysical journal, v 837(1)
- Publisher
- Iop Publishing Ltd
- Number of pages
- 14
- Grant note
- Max Planck Society; Foundation CELLEX University of Cambridge University of Chicago Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) U.S. Department of Energy; United States Department of Energy (DOE) National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) University of Basil Korean Scientist Group Institute for Advanced Study Chinese Academy of Sciences (LAMOST); Chinese Academy of Sciences United States Naval Observatory 1410525 / Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS) Japanese Monbukagakusho; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) Ohio State University Fermilab 1430152 / Division Of Physics; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS) University of Pittsburgh Los Alamos National Laboratory; United States Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics Alfred P. Sloan Foundation University of Washington Princeton University Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) New Mexico State University Japan Participation Group; Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) University of Portsmouth Higher Education Funding Council for England; UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Astrophysical Institute Potsdam Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology American Museum of Natural History Case Western Reserve University AST-1410525 / NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF) National Science Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF) Johns Hopkins University Drexel University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Physics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000395918600007
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85015206052
- Other Identifier
- 991019167917004721
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- Web of Science research areas
- Astronomy & Astrophysics