Bibcode
DOI
Martínez-Delgado, Ismael; Tenorio-Tagle, Guillermo; Muñoz-Tuñón, Casiana; Moiseev, Alexei V.; Cairós, Luz M.
Referencia bibliográfica
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 133, Issue 6, pp. 2892-2897.
Fecha de publicación:
6
2007
Número de citas
25
Número de citas referidas
24
Descripción
Here we present the analysis of three-dimensional spectroscopic data of
three blue compact galaxies (Mrk 324, Mrk 370, and III Zw 102). Each of
the more than 22,500 spectra obtained for each galaxy has been fitted by
a single Gaussian from which we have inferred the velocity dispersion
(σ), the peak intensity (Ipeak), and the central
wavelength (λc). The analysis shows that the σ
versus Ipeak diagrams look remarkably similar to those
obtained for giant extragalactic H II regions. They all present a
supersonic narrow horizontal band that extends across the entire range
of intensities and that results from the massive nuclear star-forming
regions of each galaxy. The σ versus Ipeak diagrams
also present several inclined bands of lower intensity and an even
larger σ arising from the large galactic volumes that surround the
main central emitting knots. We also show that the σ versus
λc and λc versus Ipeak
diagrams are powerful tools that are able to unveil the presence of
high- and low-mass stellar clusters, and thus allow for the possibility
of inferring the star formation activity of distant galaxies even if
they are not spatially resolved.