SDSS-IV MaNGA : a serendipitous observation of a potential gas accretion event

The nature of warm, ionized gas outside of galaxies may illuminate several key galaxy evolutionary processes. A serendipitous observation by the MaNGA survey has revealed a large, asymmetric Hα complex with no optical counterpart that extends ≈8'' (≈6.3 kpc) beyond the effective radius of a dusty, starbursting galaxy. This Hα extension is approximately three times the effective radius of the host galaxy and displays a tail-like morphology. We analyze its gas-phase metallicities, gaseous kinematics, and emission-line ratios and discuss whether this Hα extension could be diffuse ionized gas, a gas accretion event, or something else. We find that this warm, ionized gas structure is most consistent with gas accretion through recycled wind material, which could be an important process that regulates the low-mass end of the galaxy stellar mass function.

Citation

Cheung , E , Stark , D V , Huang , S , Rubin , K H R , Lin , L , Tremonti , C , Zhang , K , Yan , R , Bizyaev , D , Boquien , M , Brownstein , J R , Drory , N , Gelfand , J D , Knapen , J H , Maiolino , R , Malanushenko , O , Masters , K L , Merrifield , M R , Pace , Z , Pan , K , Riffel , R A , Roman-Lopes , A , Rujopakarn , W , Schneider , D P , Stott , J P , Thomas , D & Weijmans , A-M 2016 , ' SDSS-IV MaNGA : a serendipitous observation of a potential gas accretion event ' , Astrophysical Journal . https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/182

Publication

Astrophysical Journal

Status

Peer reviewed

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/182

ISSN

0004-637X

Type

Journal article

Rights

© 2016 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at: https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/182

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