English

The connection between galactic outflows and the escape of ionizing photons

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2022-12-07 v1

Abstract

We analyze spectra of a gravitationally lensed galaxy, known as the Sunburst Arc, that is leaking ionizing photons, also known as the Lyman continuum (LyC). Magnification from gravitational lensing permits the galaxy to be spatially resolved into one region that leaks ionizing photons, and several that do not. Rest-frame ultraviolet and optical spectra from Magellan target ten different regions along the lensed Arc, including six multiple images of the LyC leaking region, as well as four regions that do not show LyC emission. The rest-frame optical spectra of the ionizing photon emitting regions reveal a blue-shifted (ΔV\Delta V=27 km s1^{-1}) broad emission component (FWHM=327 km s1^{-1}) comprising 55% of the total [OIII] line flux, in addition to a narrow component (FWHM = 112 km s1^{-1}), suggesting the presence of strong highly ionized gas outflows. This is consistent with the high-velocity ionized outflow inferred from the rest-frame UV spectra. In contrast, the broad emission component is less prominent in the non-leaking regions, comprising \sim26% of total [OIII] line flux. The high ionization absorption lines are prominent in both leaker and non-leaker but low ionization absorption lines are very weak in the leaker, suggesting that the line of sight gas is highly ionized in the leaker. Analyses of stellar wind features reveal that the stellar population of the LyC leaking regions is considerably younger (\sim3 Myr) than the non-leaking regions (\sim12 Myr), highlighting that stellar feedback from young stars may play an important role in ionizing photon escape.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2210.11575,
  title  = {The connection between galactic outflows and the escape of ionizing photons},
  author = {Ramesh Mainali and Jane R. Rigby and John Chisholm and Matthew Bayliss and Rongmon Bordoloi and Michael D. Gladders and T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen and Håkon Dahle and Keren Sharon and Michael Florian and Danielle A. Berg and Soniya Sharma and M. Riley Owens and Karin Kjellgren and Keunho J. Kim and Julia Wayne},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.11575},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in ApJ