Issue |
A&A
Volume 572, December 2014
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A65 | |
Number of page(s) | 5 | |
Section | Extragalactic astronomy | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201423965 | |
Published online | 28 November 2014 |
Research Note
Activity and quiescence in galaxies at redshifts 1.4 < z < 3.5. The role of the starburst temperature
1
Dipartimento di Fisica e AstronomiaUniversity of Padova,
Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 2,
35133
Padova,
Italy
e-mail:
contini@post.tau.ac.il
2
School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv
University, 69978
Tel Aviv,
Israel
Received: 9 April 2014
Accepted: 7 October 2014
We investigate “activity” and “quiescence” in galaxies at relatively high redshifts by modelling the line (and continuum) spectra of each object. The models account consistently for photoionization and shocks. We claim that the starburst effective temperature, the flux from an AGN, and the shock velocity are critical to activity. The results confirm that two sample galaxies show intense starburst activity with temperatures reaching T∗ = 2 × 105 K and shock velocities Vs> 250 km s-1, while for the remaining galaxies in our sample, the models show quiescent star formation with T∗ ≤ 7 × 104 K. A Seyfert 2-like AGN is proposed in one galaxy. The O/H relative abundances derived by the detailed modelling of the spectra are nearly solar for all the sample galaxies, in contrast to those obtained by direct methods.
Key words: radiation mechanisms: non-thermal / radiation mechanisms: thermal / galaxies: abundances / galaxies: starburst / galaxies: active / shock waves
© ESO, 2014
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