English

Spatially Extended Low Ionization Emission Regions (LIERs) at $z\sim0.9$

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2018-11-28 v1

Abstract

We present spatially resolved emission diagnostics for eight z0.9z\sim0.9 galaxies that demonstrate extended low ionization emission-line regions (LIERs) over kpc scales. Eight candidates are selected based on their spatial extent and emission line fluxes from slitless spectroscopic observations with the HST/WFC3 G141 and G800L grisms in the well-studied GOODS survey fields. Five of the candidates (62.5%) are matched to X-ray counterparts in the \textit{Chandra X-Ray Observatory} Deep Fields. We modify the traditional Baldwin-Philips-Terlevich (BPT) emission line diagnostic diagram to use [SII]/(Hα\alpha+[NII]) instead of [NII]/Hα\alpha to overcome the blending of [NII] and Hα\alpha+[NII] in the low resolution slitless grism spectra. We construct emission line ratio maps and place the individual pixels in the modified BPT. The extended LINER-like emission present in all of our candidates, coupled with X-Ray properties consistent with star-forming galaxies and weak [OIII]λ\lambda5007\AA\ detections, is inconsistent with purely nuclear sources (LINERs) driven by active galactic nuclei. While recent ground-based integral field unit spectroscopic surveys have revealed significant evidence for diffuse LINER-like emission in galaxies within the local universe (z0.04)(z\sim0.04), this work provides the first evidence for the non-AGN origin of LINER-like emission out to high redshifts.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1810.02819,
  title  = {Spatially Extended Low Ionization Emission Regions (LIERs) at $z\sim0.9$},
  author = {R. E. Hviding and G. B. Brammer and I. G. Momcheva and B. F. Lundgren and D. Marchesini and N. Pirzkal and R. E. Ryan and A. Vang and D. A. Wake and M. Bourque and C. Martlin and K. V. Nedkova},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1810.02819},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

11 pages, 1 table, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysics Journal (ApJ)