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., …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