 | Whitney Kropat University of Washington Astronomy/PhysicsMentor(s)Andrew J. Baker, Ph.D. Department of Physics and Astronomy Rutgers University |
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| VLT/SINFONI observations of nearby Lyman Break Galaxy analogs | ||
| Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs), which dominate high redshift surveys, are used for statistical analysis of clustering, feedback, dynamics, and modeling of galactic evolution. However, most studies of these objects use photometric measurements and template spectral energy distributions, which give little insight into the distribution and kinematics of gas in LBGs. Instead, using a set of six compact galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data to have high UV luminosities and surface brightnesses, we investigated the properties of low-redshift (<z> ~ 0.16) LBG analogs. Using the first spatially resolved comparisons of these systems, we gain insights on processes driving the evolution of LBGs. We derived the extinction using flux ratios between Paschen-&alpha’/H-α, Paschen-α/H-β, and H-α/H-β emission. Additionally, we analyzed the distribution and dynamics of ionized gas reservoirs within each galaxy, finding that despite having ordered rotational motion in four of the six galaxies, Vrot / Vdisp < 1 for all galaxies. These dispersion-dominated galaxies seem to be compatible with formation from both cold flow accretion models and mergers of low-mass systems. Two galaxies show signs of mergers: G2116 is a currently interacting system, and G1434 shows a double-peaked continuum likely from a recent merger. |