Leader: Sarah M. Sweet
Email: s.sweet@uq.edu.au
Collaborators: Please contact me if you are interested!
Topic: The unexpected dynamics of low-mass dwarf galaxies
Status: under review by Science Committee
Abstract: The gold standard for measuring gas-phase oxygen abundance is the electron temperature (Te) method, but this is challenging for most galaxies due to the faintness of the temperature-sensitive auroral emission lines. There is consequently a lack of spatially-resolved studies of Te metallicities. We will use the full sample size of Hector to achieve a large sample of Te measurements in a variety of species. We will use the different Te measurements to construct a careful Te metallicity and calibrate against strong emission line metallicities.
Needed data products: For the subset of (mostly young, blue, dwarf) galaxies which have detectable auroral [OIII] 4363 lines in their aperture spectra, we will need binned maps of the following:Gas-phase oxygen abundances in a variety of popular strong emission line diagnostics, plus electron temperature diagnostics (e.g. Z_R23, Z_N2O2, Z_N2S2Ha, …, Z_Te).Electron temperature measurements in as many optical auroral lines as are detected.Electron density measurements in [SII] and [OII].
Publication Date: 07/07/2025