Related papers: Can nebular HeII emission be explained by ultra-lu…
We present the discovery and interpretation of ionized nebulae around two ultraluminous X-ray sources in M 51; both sources share the rare property of showing X-ray eclipses by their companion stars, and are therefore prime targets for…
We present a combined analysis of rest-frame far-UV (1000-2000 A) and rest-frame optical (3600-7000 A) composite spectra formed from very deep observations of a sample of 30 star-forming galaxies with z=2.4+/-0.1, selected to be…
The origin of He II emission in galaxies remains a debated topic, requiring ionizing photons with energies exceeding 54 eV. While massive stars, such as Wolf-Rayet stars, have been considered potential sources, their UV flux often fails to…
HeII is the most sought-after emission line to detect and characterize metal free stellar populations. However, current stellar population/photo-ionization models lack sufficient He$^+$ ionising photons to reproduce observed HeII fluxes…
This is the second of two papers examining Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in Holmberg II. Here we perform detailed photoionization modeling of the infrared lines. Our analysis…
The physical origin of the near-ultraviolet MgII emission remains an under-explored domain, contrary to more typical emission lines detected in the spectra of star-forming galaxies. We explore the nebular and physical properties for a…
We present a new model of the nebular emission from star-forming galaxies in a wide range of chemical compositions, appropriate to interpret observations of galaxies at all cosmic epochs. The model relies on the combination of…
We investigate models for the class of ultraluminous non-nuclear X-ray sources (ULXs) seen in a number of galaxies and probably associated with star-forming regions. Models where the X-ray emission is assumed to be isotropic run into…
We present Hubble Space Telescope images of the He{\sc iii} region surrounding the bright X-ray source in the dwarf irregular galaxy Holmberg II. Using {\it Chandra}, we find a position for the X-ray source of $\alpha=$ 08h 19m 28.98s,…
New optical narrowband imaging observations of the fields of several ULXs are presented. Known supershell nebulae are associated with a number of these ULXs, which we detect in emission line filters such as [S II], He II, [O II] and [O…
Nearby dwarf galaxies provide a unique laboratory in which to test stellar population models below $Z_\odot/2$. Such tests are particularly important for interpreting the surprising high-ionization UV line emission detected at $z>6$ in…
The hardness of the ionizing continuum from the first sources of UV radiation plays a crucial role in the reionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM). While usual stellar populations have soft spectra, mini-quasars or metal-free stars…
We obtained optical spectra of the counterpart of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5408 X-1 using the FORS spectrograph on the VLT. The spectra show strong high excitation emission lines, He{\sc ii} $\lambda$4686 and [Ne{\sc V}]…
The X-ray output of low-metallicity starburst galaxies is a key component of stellar feedback, tracing the processes responsible for gas ionization and chemical enrichment. The integrated X-ray luminosity ($L_X$) from high-mass X-ray…
The nebular He II {\lambda}1640 emission line is observed in star forming galaxies out to large distances and can be used to constrain the properties of sources of He+ ionizing photons. For this purpose, it is crucial to understand which…
Following our study on the incidence, morphology and kinematics of the ionised gas in early-type galaxies we now address the question of what is powering the observed nebular emission. To constrain the likely sources of gas excitation, we…
One of the interesting features of Ultraluminous X-ray sources is that many of them are surrounded by luminous nebulae exhibiting diverse observational properties. In different cases the nebulae are photoionized or shock-powered. Generally,…
We compute synthetic optical and ultraviolet (UV) emission-line properties of galaxies in a full cosmological framework by coupling, in post-processing, new-generation nebular-emission models with high-resolution, cosmological zoom-in…
We introduce a novel approach to modelling the nebular emission from star-forming galaxies by combining the contributions from many HII regions incorporating loose trends in physical properties, random dust attenuation, a predefined Halpha…
We present a new model for computing consistently the line and continuum emission from galaxies, based on a combination of recent population synthesis and photoionization codes. We use effective parameters to describe the HII regions and…