The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Final data release and the metallicity of UV-luminous galaxies

Drinkwater, Michael J; Byrne, Zachary J; Blake, Chris; Glazebrook, Karl; Brough, Sarah; Colless, Matthew; Couch, Warrick; Croton, Darren J; Croom, Scott M; Davis, Tamara M; Forster, Karl; Gilbank, David; Hinton, Samuel R; Jelliffe, Ben; Jurek, Russell J; Li, I-hui; Christopher Martin, D; Pimbblet, Kevin; Poole, Gregory B; Pracy, Michael; Sharp, Rob; Smillie, Jon; Spolaor, Max; Wisnioski, Emily; Woods, David; Wyder, Ted K; Yee, Howard K C

Abstract

© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey measured the redshifts of over 200 000 ultraviolet (UV)- selected (NUV < 22.8 mag) galaxies on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The survey detected the baryon acoustic oscillation signal in the large-scale distribution of galaxies over the redshift range 0.2 < z < 1.0, confirming the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe and measuring the rate of structure growth within it. Here, we present the final data release of the survey: a catalogue of 225 415 galaxies and individual files of the galaxy spectra. We analyse the emission-line properties of these UV-luminous Lyman-break galaxies by stacking the spectra in bins of luminosity, redshift, and stellar mass. The most luminous (-25 mag < M FUV < -22 mag) galaxies have very broad Hβ emission from active nuclei, as well as a broad second component to the [OIII] (495.9 nm, 500.7 nm) doublet lines that is blueshifted by 100 km s -1 , indicating the presence of gas outflows in these galaxies. The composite spectra allow us to detect and measure the temperature-sensitive [O III] (436.3 nm) line and obtain metallicities using the direct method. The metallicities of intermediate stellar mass (8.8 < log (M*/M⊙) < 10)WiggleZ galaxies are consistent with normal emission-line galaxies at the samemasses. In contrast, the metallicities of high stellarmass (10 < log (M*/M⊙) < 12) WiggleZ galaxies are significantly lower than for normal emission-line galaxies at the same masses. This is not an effect of evolution as the metallicities do not vary with redshift; it is most likely a property specific to the extremely UV-luminous WiggleZ galaxies.

Citation

Drinkwater, M. J., Byrne, Z. J., Blake, C., Glazebrook, K., Brough, S., Colless, M., Couch, W., Croton, D. J., Croom, S. M., Davis, T. M., Forster, K., Gilbank, D., Hinton, S. R., Jelliffe, B., Jurek, R. J., Li, I.-H., Christopher Martin, D., Pimbblet, K., Poole, G. B., Pracy, M., …Yee, H. K. C. (2018). The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Final data release and the metallicity of UV-luminous galaxies. Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 474(3), 4151-4168. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2963

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 14, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Nov 21, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jun 28, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 6, 2018
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 474
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 4151-4168
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2963
• Keywords: Surveys; Galaxies: abundances; Galaxies: photometry; Galaxies: starburst; Cosmology: observations; Ultraviolet: galaxies
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/590319
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/474/3/4151/4644843
• Contract Date: Jun 28, 2018