Related papers: Can nebular HeII emission be explained by ultra-lu…
We present the first Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) observations of the [O IV] 25.89 $\mu$m emission line detected from the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in Holmberg II. This line is a well established signature of high ionization,…
The analysis and interpretation of the H2 line emission from planetary nebulae have been done in the literature assuming that the molecule survives only in regions where the hydrogen is neutral, as in photodissociation, neutral clumps or…
We obtained 3 epochs of simultaneous Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Wide Field Camera 3 and Chandra observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5408 X-1. The counterpart of the X-ray source is seen in all HST filters, from the UV…
Since the detection of X-ray pulses from ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in 2014, neutron stars have been considered as their central objects. However, it remains unclear how neutron stars can be brighter than the Eddington luminosity,…
We derive new self-consistent theoretical UV, optical, and IR diagnostics for the ISM pressure and electron density in the ionized nebulae of star-forming galaxies. Our UV diagnostics utilize the inter-combination, forbidden and resonance…
We use near-IR grism spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope to examine the strength of [Ne~III] 3869 relative to H-beta, [O~II] 3727 and [O~III] 5007 in 236 low mass (7.5 < log (Mstar/Msolar) < 10.5) star-forming galaxies in the…
HII regions, ionized nebulae where massive star formation has taken place, exhibit a wealth of emission lines that are the fundamental basis for estimating the chemical composition of the Universe. For more than 80 years, a discrepancy of…
We report on UV and X-ray spectroscopy and broad-band optical observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source in Holmberg II. Fitting various stellar spectral models to the combined, non-simultaneous data set, we find that normal metallicity…
Deep optical spectroscopic surveys of galaxies provide us a unique opportunity to investigate rest-frame ultra-violet (UV) emission line properties of galaxies at ${z \sim 2-4.5}$. Here we combine VLT/MUSE Guaranteed Time Observations of…
The ability to robustly determine galaxy properties such as masses, ages and star-formation rates is critically limited by the ability to accurately measure dust attenuation. Dust reddening is often characterized by comparing observations…
Recent theoretical works claim that high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) could have been important sources of energy feedback into the interstellar and intergalactic media, playing a major role in the reionization epoch. A metallicity…
Star-forming galaxies form a sequence in the [OIII]/H-beta vs. [NII]/H-alpha diagnostic diagram, with low metallicity, highly ionized galaxies falling in the upper left corner. Drawing from a large sample of UV-selected star-forming…
Optical Fe II emission is a strong feature in quasar spectra originating in the broad-line region (BLR). The difficulty in understanding the complex Fe II pseudo-continuum has led us to search for other reliable, simpler ionic species such…
Here I describe recent studies of objects with molecular hydrogen emission that is strong relative to other spectral lines. Large telescopes and fast spectrometers have made the 2 {\mu}m window accessible even for relatively faint objects.…
Radiation in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray holds clues to the location of the missing baryons, the energetics in stellar feedback processes, and the cosmic enrichment history. Additionally, EUV and soft X-ray photons help…
The origin of the variable X-ray emission in the $(0.3-30)\,$keV energy range of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) remains unclear, making it difficult to constrain the mass of the central compact object. X-ray luminosities of bright ULXs…
Broad-line regions (BLR) are one of the main components that constitute the phenomenological picture of active galaxies near the vicinity of the accreting supermassive black holes. Both theoretical and observational studies have shown that…
The star formation (SF) can be regarded as an engine powering the light emission of spiral galaxies at several wavelengths. SF activity also plays a significant role in the evolution of galaxies. In this thesis we focus on the X-ray…
The HeII (1640 A) line and the resonance doublet of NV (UV1) provide a good diagnostic tool to constrain the excitation mechanism of hot (Te>40,000K) atmospheric/magnetospheric plasmas in T Tauri stars (TTSs). Making use of the data…
Measurements of the galaxy UV luminosity function at z>6 suggest that young stars hosted in low-mass star-forming galaxies produced the bulk of hydrogen-ionizing photons necessary to reionize the intergalactic medium (IGM) by redshift z~6.…