The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Final data release and the metallicity of UV-luminous galaxies

Michael J. Drinkwater*, Zachary J. Byrne, Chris Blake, Karl Glazebrook, Sarah Brough, Matthew Colless, Warrick Couch, Darren J. Croton, Scott M. Croom, Tamara M. Davis, Karl Forster, David Gilbank, Samuel R. Hinton, Ben Jelliffe, Russell J. Jurek, I. Hui Li, D. Christopher Martin, Kevin Pimbblet, Gregory B. Poole, Michael PracyRob Sharp, Jon Smillie, Max Spolaor, Emily Wisnioski, David Woods, Ted K. Wyder, Howard K.C. Yee

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    38 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    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 < MFUV < -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.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)4151-4168
    Number of pages18
    JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    Volume474
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2018

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Final data release and the metallicity of UV-luminous galaxies'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this