TY - JOUR
T1 - Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA)
T2 - A WISE study of the activity of emission-line systems in G23
AU - Yao, H. F.M.
AU - Jarrett, T. H.
AU - Cluver, M. E.
AU - Marchetti, L.
AU - Taylor, Edward N.
AU - Santos, M. G.
AU - Owers, Matt S.
AU - Lopez-Sanchez, Angel R.
AU - Gordon, Y. A.
AU - Brown, M. J. I.
AU - Brough, S.
AU - Phillipps, S.
AU - Holwerda, B. W.
AU - Hopkins, A. M.
AU - Wang, L.
PY - 2020/11/10
Y1 - 2020/11/10
N2 - We present a detailed study of emission-line systems in the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) G23 region, making use of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) photometry that includes carefully measured resolved sources. After applying several cuts to the initial catalog of. 41,000 galaxies, we extract a sample of 9809 galaxies. We then compare the spectral diagnostic Baldwin, Philips & Terlevich (BPT) classification of 1154 emission-line galaxies (38% resolved in W1) to their location in the WISE color-color diagram, leading to the creation of a new zone for mid-infrared "warm"galaxies located 2μm above the star-forming sequence, below the standard WISE active galactic nucleus (AGN) region. We find that the BPT and WISE diagrams agree on the classification for 85% and 8% of the galaxies as non-AGN (star-forming = SF) and AGN, respectively, and disagree on. 7% of the entire classified sample. Thirty-nine percent of the AGNs (all types) are broad-line systems for which the [N II] and [Hα] fluxes can barely be disentangled, giving in most cases spurious [N II]/[Hα] flux ratios. However, several optical AGNs appear to be completely consistent with SF in WISE. We argue that these could be low-power AGNs, or systems whose hosts dominate the IR emission. Alternatively, given the sometimes high [O III] luminosity in these galaxies, the emission lines may be generated by shocks coming from super-winds associated with SF rather than AGN activity. Based on our findings, we have created a new diagnostic: [W1 - W2] versus [N II]/[Hα], which has the virtue of separating SF from AGNs and high-excitation sources. It classifies 3 to ∼5 times more galaxies than the classic BPT.
AB - We present a detailed study of emission-line systems in the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) G23 region, making use of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) photometry that includes carefully measured resolved sources. After applying several cuts to the initial catalog of. 41,000 galaxies, we extract a sample of 9809 galaxies. We then compare the spectral diagnostic Baldwin, Philips & Terlevich (BPT) classification of 1154 emission-line galaxies (38% resolved in W1) to their location in the WISE color-color diagram, leading to the creation of a new zone for mid-infrared "warm"galaxies located 2μm above the star-forming sequence, below the standard WISE active galactic nucleus (AGN) region. We find that the BPT and WISE diagrams agree on the classification for 85% and 8% of the galaxies as non-AGN (star-forming = SF) and AGN, respectively, and disagree on. 7% of the entire classified sample. Thirty-nine percent of the AGNs (all types) are broad-line systems for which the [N II] and [Hα] fluxes can barely be disentangled, giving in most cases spurious [N II]/[Hα] flux ratios. However, several optical AGNs appear to be completely consistent with SF in WISE. We argue that these could be low-power AGNs, or systems whose hosts dominate the IR emission. Alternatively, given the sometimes high [O III] luminosity in these galaxies, the emission lines may be generated by shocks coming from super-winds associated with SF rather than AGN activity. Based on our findings, we have created a new diagnostic: [W1 - W2] versus [N II]/[Hα], which has the virtue of separating SF from AGNs and high-excitation sources. It classifies 3 to ∼5 times more galaxies than the classic BPT.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096069965&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/abba1a
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/abba1a
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096069965
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 903
SP - 1
EP - 31
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 2
M1 - 91
ER -