Integrated optical spectra of 2052 ECO star-forming galaxies, modeled as superpositions of many H II regions, reveal low-excitation gas with average metallicity near 0.3 solar and a mass-metallicity relation consistent with direct abundance methods.
Astro2020 Science White Paper: Making the Connection between Feedback andSpatially Resolved Emission Line Diagnostics
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abstract
Crucial progress in our understanding of star formation and feedback will depend on the ability to obtain spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of \ion{H}{ii} regions, from which reliable instantaneous measurements of their physical conditions can be obtained. Acquiring these datasets across full galactic systems will prove crucial for obtaining population samples that enable us to understand the time evolution of similar regions, and the variability of conditions among coeval regions. Separating the spatial and temporal dependencies in such way for different physical processes involved in star formation and the injection of feedback is crucial to overcome the inherit degeneracies associated with observing instantaneous snapshots of a dynamic ISM at any given time. Emission line diagnostics are at the core of measuring the physical condition in \ion{H}{ii} regions (e.g. dynamics, SFR, chemical abundances, dust extinction, ionization and excitation, etc.). These measurements require high spatial resolution, contiguous coverage across full galactic systems, and sensitivities significantly deeper than past efforts. The spatial scale required to resolve the \ion{H}{ii} regions of a few pc is only attainable in the Local Group where very large sky coverage is necessary.
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Recovering the properties of the interstellar medium through integrated spectroscopy: application to the z~0 ECO volume-limited star-forming galaxy sample
Integrated optical spectra of 2052 ECO star-forming galaxies, modeled as superpositions of many H II regions, reveal low-excitation gas with average metallicity near 0.3 solar and a mass-metallicity relation consistent with direct abundance methods.