High-velocity outflows from young star-forming galaxies in the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey

E. J. Bradshaw, O. Almaini, W. G. Hartley, K. T. Smith, C. J. Conselice, J. S. Dunlop, C. Simpson, R. W. Chuter, M. Cirasuolo, S. Foucaud, R. J. McLure, A. Mortlock, H. Pearce

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We investigate galactic-scale outflows in the redshift range 0.71 ≤ z ≤ 1.63, using 413 K-band selected galaxies observed in the spectroscopic follow-up of the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey (UDSz). The galaxies have an average stellar mass of ˜109.5 M⊙ and span a wide range in rest-frame colours, representing typical star-forming galaxies at this epoch. We stack the spectra by various galaxy properties, including stellar mass, [O II] equivalent width, star formation rate, specific star formation rate and rest-frame spectral indices. We find that outflows are present in virtually all spectral stacks, with velocities ranging from 100 to 1000 km s-1, indicating that large-scale outflowing winds are a common property at these redshifts. The highest velocity outflows (>500 km s-1) are found in galaxies with the highest stellar masses and the youngest stellar populations. Our findings suggest that high-velocity galactic outflows are mostly driven by star-forming processes rather than active galactic nuclei, with implied mass outflow rates comparable to the rates of star formation. Such behaviour is consistent with models required to reproduce the high-redshift mass-metallicity relation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1406
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2013

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • galaxies: active
  • galaxies: evolution
  • quasars: general

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