The Little Cub: Discovery of an Extremely Metal-Poor Star-Forming Galaxy
in the Local Universe
T. Hsyu, R. Cooke, J. Prochaska, and M. Bolte. (2017)cite arxiv:1708.01260Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Abstract
We report the discovery of the Little Cub, an extremely metal-poor
star-forming galaxy in the local Universe, found in the constellation Ursa
Major (a.k.a. the Great Bear). We first identified the Little Cub as a
candidate metal-poor galaxy based on its Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometric
colors, combined with spectroscopy using the Kast spectrograph on the Shane 3-m
telescope at Lick Observatory. In this letter, we present high-quality
spectroscopic data taken with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at Keck
Observatory, which confirm the extremely metal-poor nature of this galaxy.
Based on the weak O III 4363 Angstrom emission line, we estimate a direct
oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.13 +/- 0.08, making the Little Cub one of
the lowest metallicity star-forming galaxies currently known in the local
Universe. The Little Cub appears to be a companion of the spiral galaxy NGC
3359 and shows evidence of gas stripping. We may therefore be witnessing the
quenching of a near-pristine galaxy as it makes its first passage about a Milky
Way-like galaxy.
Description
[1708.01260] The Little Cub: Discovery of an Extremely Metal-Poor Star-Forming Galaxy in the Local Universe
%0 Generic
%1 hsyu2017little
%A Hsyu, Tiffany
%A Cooke, Ryan J.
%A Prochaska, J. Xavier
%A Bolte, Michael
%D 2017
%K galaxy metal poor very
%T The Little Cub: Discovery of an Extremely Metal-Poor Star-Forming Galaxy
in the Local Universe
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1708.01260
%X We report the discovery of the Little Cub, an extremely metal-poor
star-forming galaxy in the local Universe, found in the constellation Ursa
Major (a.k.a. the Great Bear). We first identified the Little Cub as a
candidate metal-poor galaxy based on its Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometric
colors, combined with spectroscopy using the Kast spectrograph on the Shane 3-m
telescope at Lick Observatory. In this letter, we present high-quality
spectroscopic data taken with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at Keck
Observatory, which confirm the extremely metal-poor nature of this galaxy.
Based on the weak O III 4363 Angstrom emission line, we estimate a direct
oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.13 +/- 0.08, making the Little Cub one of
the lowest metallicity star-forming galaxies currently known in the local
Universe. The Little Cub appears to be a companion of the spiral galaxy NGC
3359 and shows evidence of gas stripping. We may therefore be witnessing the
quenching of a near-pristine galaxy as it makes its first passage about a Milky
Way-like galaxy.
@misc{hsyu2017little,
abstract = {We report the discovery of the Little Cub, an extremely metal-poor
star-forming galaxy in the local Universe, found in the constellation Ursa
Major (a.k.a. the Great Bear). We first identified the Little Cub as a
candidate metal-poor galaxy based on its Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometric
colors, combined with spectroscopy using the Kast spectrograph on the Shane 3-m
telescope at Lick Observatory. In this letter, we present high-quality
spectroscopic data taken with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at Keck
Observatory, which confirm the extremely metal-poor nature of this galaxy.
Based on the weak [O III] 4363 Angstrom emission line, we estimate a direct
oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.13 +/- 0.08, making the Little Cub one of
the lowest metallicity star-forming galaxies currently known in the local
Universe. The Little Cub appears to be a companion of the spiral galaxy NGC
3359 and shows evidence of gas stripping. We may therefore be witnessing the
quenching of a near-pristine galaxy as it makes its first passage about a Milky
Way-like galaxy.},
added-at = {2017-08-07T11:18:58.000+0200},
author = {Hsyu, Tiffany and Cooke, Ryan J. and Prochaska, J. Xavier and Bolte, Michael},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/21b044ef12de3b0ea7bd0cd3308e81f30/miki},
description = {[1708.01260] The Little Cub: Discovery of an Extremely Metal-Poor Star-Forming Galaxy in the Local Universe},
interhash = {23aad2ec0c0ff595ec3fbc1dbee6c087},
intrahash = {1b044ef12de3b0ea7bd0cd3308e81f30},
keywords = {galaxy metal poor very},
note = {cite arxiv:1708.01260Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters},
timestamp = {2017-08-07T11:18:58.000+0200},
title = {The Little Cub: Discovery of an Extremely Metal-Poor Star-Forming Galaxy
in the Local Universe},
url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1708.01260},
year = 2017
}