LEO P: HOW MANY METALS CAN A VERY LOW MASS, ISOLATED GALAXY RETAIN? Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555

Kristen B. W. McQuinn; Evan D. Skillman; Andrew Dolphin; John M. Cannon; John J. Salzer; Katherine L. Rhode; Elizabeth A. K. Adams; Danielle Berg; Riccardo Giovanelli; Martha P. Haynes

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/815/2/L17

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LEO P: HOW MANY METALS CAN A VERY LOW MASS, ISOLATED GALAXY RETAIN? Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555

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LEO P: HOW MANY METALS CAN A VERY LOW MASS, ISOLATED GALAXY RETAIN? Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555

Kristen B. W. McQuinn, Evan D. Skillman, Andrew Dolphin, John M. Cannon, John J. Salzer, Katherine L. Rhode, Elizabeth A. K. Adams, Danielle Berg, Riccardo Giovanelli and Martha P. Haynes

Astrophysical journal. Letters, Vol.815(2), L17

12/11/2015

DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/815/2/L17

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https://arxiv.org/pdf/1512.00459View

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Abstract

ABSTRACT Leo P is a gas-rich dwarf galaxy with an extremely low gas-phase oxygen abundance (3% solar). The isolated nature of Leo P enables a quantitative measurement of metals lost solely due to star formation feedback. We present an inventory of the oxygen atoms in Leo P based on the gas-phase oxygen abundance measurement, the star formation history (SFH), and the chemical enrichment evolution derived from resolved stellar populations. The SFH also provides the total amount of oxygen produced. Overall, Leo P has retained 5% of its oxygen; 25% of the retained oxygen is in the stars while 75% is in the gas phase. This is considerably lower than the 20%-25% calculated for massive galaxies, supporting the trend for less efficient metal retention for lower-mass galaxies. The retention fraction is higher than that calculated for other alpha elements (Mg, Si, Ca) in dSph Milky Way satellites of similar stellar mass and metallicity. Accounting only for the oxygen retained in stars, our results are consistent with those derived for the alpha elements in dSph galaxies. Thus, under the assumption that the dSph galaxies lost the bulk of their gas mass through an environmental process such as tidal stripping, the estimates of retained metal fractions represent underestimates by roughly a factor of four. Because of its isolation, Leo P provides an important datum for the fraction of metals lost as a function of galaxy mass due to star formation.

galaxies: abundances

galaxies: dwarf

galaxies: evolution

galaxies: stellar content

Details

Title: Subtitle: LEO P: HOW MANY METALS CAN A VERY LOW MASS, ISOLATED GALAXY RETAIN? Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555
Creators: Kristen B. W. McQuinn - The University of Texas at Austin
Evan D. Skillman - University of Minnesota
Andrew Dolphin - RTX (United States)
John M. Cannon - Macalester College
John J. Salzer - Indiana University Bloomington
Katherine L. Rhode - Indiana University Bloomington
Elizabeth A. K. Adams - Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Danielle Berg - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Riccardo Giovanelli - Cornell University
Martha P. Haynes - Cornell University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Astrophysical journal. Letters, Vol.815(2), L17
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/815/2/L17
ISSN: 2041-8205
eISSN: 2041-8213
Publisher: The American Astronomical Society
Number of pages: 5
Alternative title: LEO P: HOW MANY METALS CAN A VERY LOW MASS, ISOLATED GALAXY RETAIN?
Language: English
Date published: 12/11/2015
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984627289402771

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