Integral-field near-infrared spectroscopy of two blue dwarf galaxies: NGC 5253 and He 2-10^*

¹ Osservatorio astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy e-mail: gcresci@arcetri.astro.it
² Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1312, Garching 85741, Germany
³ Department of Electrical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile
⁴ Laboratoire AIM, CEA/Irfu, CNRS/INSU – Université Paris Diderot, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif sur-Yvette-Cedex, France
⁵ European Southern Observatory, Karl Schwarzschild str.2, 85748 Garching bei Muenchen, Germany
⁶ Universitá di Bologna, Dipartimento di Astronomia, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
⁷ INAF – Istituto di Radioastronomia, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁸ Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

Received: 26 April 2010
Accepted: 8 July 2010

Abstract

We present integral field spectroscopy in the near infrared (NIR) of He 2-10 and NGC 5253, two well known nearby dwarf irregular galaxies showing high star-formation rates. Our data provide an unprecedented detailed view of the interstellar medium and star formation in these galaxies, allowing us to obtain spatially resolved information from the NIR emission and absorption line tracers. We study the spatial distribution and kinematics of different components of the interstellar medium (ISM) mostly through the Bracket series lines, the molecular hydrogen spectrum, [FeII] emission, and CO absorptions. Although the ISM is mostly photo-excited, as derived by the [FeII]/Brγ and line ratios, some regions corresponding to non-thermal radio sources show a [FeII]/Brγ excess due to a significant contribution of SN driven shocks. In He 2-10 we find that the molecular gas clouds, as traced by CO(2-1) and infrared line, show consistent morphologies and velocities when studied with the two different tracers. Moreover, there is a clear association with the youngest super star clusters as traced by the ionized gas. In the same galaxy we observe a cavity depleted of gas, which is surrounded by some of the most active regions of star formation, that we interpret as a signature of feedback-induced star formation from older episodes of star formation. Finally, we measured high turbulence in the ISM of both galaxies, σ ~ 30–80 km s^-1, driven by the high star-formation activity.