Dust depletion of metals from local to distant galaxies

Konstantopoulou, C.; De, A.; Krogager, Jens-Kristian; Ledoux, C.; Noterdaeme, P.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Heintz, K. E.; Watson, Darach; Andersen, Anja C.; Ramburuth-Hurt, Tanita; Jermann, I.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243994

Cited by 14 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…Our analysis of the UV absorption in the high-S/N coadded COS spectrum of Mrk 817 has yielded subsolar abundance ratios in Complex C of [Fe/S] = −0.42 ± 0.08, [Si/ S] = −0.29 ± 0.05, and [Al/S] = −0.53 ± 0.08. Since S is relatively undepleted but Fe, Si, and Al are known to deplete in the ISM (Savage & Sembach 1996;Jenkins 2009;Konstantopoulou et al 2022), these ratios quantify the amount of dust depletion for Fe, Si, and Al. These are the first significant detections of dust depletion in Complex C, though limits on dust depletion were derived by Tripp (2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Dust in High-velocity Cloud Complex C–Enriched Gas Accreting onto the Milky Way ^*

Cashman

Kriss

Rosa

et al. 2023

ApJL

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We present the detection of dust depletion in Complex C, a massive, infalling, low-metallicity high-velocity cloud in the northern Galactic hemisphere that traces the ongoing accretion of gas onto the Milky Way. We analyze a very high signal-to-noise Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph spectrum of active galactic nucleus (AGN) Mrk 817 formed by coadding 165 individual exposures taken under the AGN STORM 2 program, allowing us to determine dust-depletion patterns in Complex C at unprecedented precision. By fitting Voigt components to the O i, S ii, N i, Si ii, Fe ii, and Al ii absorption and applying ionization corrections from customized Cloudy photoionization models, we find subsolar elemental abundance ratios of [Fe/S] = −0.42 ± 0.08, [Si/S] = −0.29 ± 0.05, and [Al/S] = −0.53 ± 0.08. These ratios indicate the depletion of Fe, Si, and Al into dust grains, since S is mostly undepleted. The detection of dust provides an important constraint on the origin of Complex C, as dust grains indicate the gas has been processed through galaxies, rather than being purely extragalactic. We also derive a low metallicity of Complex C of [S/H] = −0.51 ± 0.16 (≈31% solar), confirming earlier results from this sight line. We discuss origin models that could explain the presence of dust in Complex C, including Galactic fountain models, tidal stripping from the Magellanic Clouds or other satellite galaxies, and precipitation of coronal gas onto dust-bearing “seed” clouds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Dust in High-velocity Cloud Complex C–Enriched Gas Accreting onto the Milky Way ^*

Cashman

Kriss

Rosa

et al. 2023

ApJL

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“…Alpha-element enhancements have been conclusively observed for systems with depletion levels close to zero (e.g. Dessauges-Zavadsky et al 2006;Cooke et al 2011;Becker et al 2012;Ledoux et al 2002b;De Cia et al 2016) or systems with [Zn/Fe] ∼ 0.5 (Konstantopoulou et al 2022). For systems with [Zn/Fe] > 0.5 it has been difficult to disentangle dust depletion from nucleosynthetic effects.…”

Section: (2014)mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…where [Zn/Fe] fit is the overall strength of depletion, or the depletion factor; A2 X and B2 X are coefficients of the depletion sequence fits in Konstantopoulou et al (2022) and are specific for each element (see Table 1). In principle, A2 X can be assumed to be zero because we expect to have no dust depletion when there is no depletion, [Zn/Fe] fit = 0 (i.e.…”

Section: Measuring Dust Depletion From Depletion Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical diversity of gas in distant galaxies

Ramburuth-Hurt

Krogager

et al. 2023

A&A

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The chemical composition of gas in galaxies can be measured in great detail using absorption spectroscopy. By studying gas in galaxies in this way, it is possible to investigate small and faint galaxies, which are the most numerous in the universe. In particular, the chemical distribution of gas in absorbing systems gives us insight into cycles of gas in and around galaxies. In this work we study chemical enrichment within 64 damped Lyman-α absorption systems (DLAs) for redshifts in the range 1.7 < z < 4.2. We use high-resolution spectra from VLT/UVES to infer dust depletion from relative abundances of several metals. Specifically, we performed a component-by-component analysis within DLAs, and characterised variations in their chemical enrichment. Unlike hydrogen, the metal columns can be characterised according to their individual components. We used them to derive the dust depletion, which is an indicator of chemical enrichment. Our main results are as follows. Firstly, we find that some DLAs are chemically diverse within themselves (with the measure of dust depletion [Zn/Fe]fit ranging up to 0.62 dex within a single system), suggesting that the absorbing gas within these galaxies is chemically diverse. Secondly, although we do not find a clear trend of decreasing dust depletion with redshift, we do see that the most chemically enriched systems are at lower redshifts. We also observe evidence for dust-poor components at all redshifts, which may be due to the accretion of pristine gas onto galaxies. By combining the chemical and kinematic properties of the individual gas components, we observe potential signatures of infalling gas with low depletion at velocities below ∼100 km s−1, and outflows with high depletion and velocities of ∼600 km s−1. Finally, we find over-abundances of α-elements (an enhancement of ∼0.3 dex) and under-abundances of Mn in several gas components, which is likely a signature of core-collapse supernovae nucleosythesis in the ISM. We observe these effects mostly at lower levels of chemical enrichment.

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“…7 we present the observed abundance patterns along the total line of sight of the z = 6.3 galaxy. In this formalism, x represents how refractory an element is (i.e., how easily it is normally incorporated into dust grains), and y is closely related to the abundances of different metals, as defined and tabulated in De Cia et al ( 2021), except for carbon and aluminum, which are measured in Konstantopoulou et al (2022). If there is no dust depletion in a system, the observed abundances are expected to line up horizontally.…”

Section: Metallicity and Dust Depletionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In practice, we include all the elements with an elemental abundance above 3 (in the scale where H has an abundance of 12, Asplund et al 2009), in the same way as Konstantopoulou et al (2022). In absolute values (i.e., to be compared with the 0.45 value of the Milky Way), we find DTM = 0.18±0.03 (0.36±0.04…”

Section: Dust-to-metal Mass Ratio and Dust Extinctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissecting the interstellar medium of a z = 6.3 galaxy

Saccardi

Vergani

et al. 2023

A&A

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The study of the properties of galaxies in the first billion years after the Big Bang is one of the major topics of current astrophysics. Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of the afterglows of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) provides a powerful diagnostic tool to probe the interstellar medium (ISM) of their host galaxies and foreground absorbers, even up to the highest redshifts. We analyze the VLT/X-shooter afterglow spectrum of GRB 210905A, triggered by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and detect neutral hydrogen, low-ionization, high-ionization, and fine-structure absorption lines from a complex system at z = 6.3118, which we associate with the GRB host galaxy. We use them to study the ISM properties of the host system, revealing the metallicity, kinematics, and chemical abundance pattern of its gas along the GRB line of sight. We also detect absorption lines from at least two foreground absorbers at z = 5.7390 and z = 2.8296. The total metallicity of the z ∼ 6.3 system is [M/H]tot = −1.72 ± 0.13, after correcting for dust depletion and taking α-element enhancement into account, as suggested by our analysis. This is consistent with the values found for the other two GRBs at z ∼ 6 with spectroscopic data showing metal absorption lines (GRB 050904 and GRB 130606A), and it is at the higher end of the metallicity distribution of quasar damped Lyman-α systems (QSO-DLAs) extrapolated to such a high redshift. In addition, we determine the overall amount of dust and dust-to-metal mass ratio (DTM) ([Zn/Fe]fit = 0.33 ± 0.09 and DTM = 0.18 ± 0.03). We find indications of nucleosynthesis due to massive stars and, for some of the components of the gas clouds, we find evidence of peculiar nucleosynthesis, with an overabundance of aluminum (as also found for GRB 130606A). From the analysis of fine-structure lines, we determine distances of several kiloparsecs for the low-ionization gas clouds closest to the GRB. Those are farther distances than usually found for GRB host absorption systems, possibly due to the very high number of ionizing photons produced by the GRB that could ionize the line of sight up to several hundreds of parsecs. Using the HST/F140W image of the GRB field, we show the GRB host galaxy (with a possible afterglow contamination) as well as multiple objects within 2″ from the GRB position. We discuss the galaxy structure and kinematics that could explain our observations, also taking into account a tentative detection of Lyman-α emission at z = 6.3449 (∼1200 km s−1 from the GRB redshift in velocity space), and the observational properties of Lyman-α emitters at very high redshift. This study shows the amazing potential of GRBs to access detailed information on the properties (metal enrichment, gas kinematic, dust content, nucleosynthesis...) of very high-redshift galaxies, independently of the galaxy luminosity. Deep spectroscopic observations with VLT/MUSE and JWST will offer the unique possibility of combining the information presented in this paper with the properties of the ionized gas, with the goal of better understanding how galaxies in the reionization era form and evolve.

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Dust depletion of metals from local to distant galaxies

Cited by 14 publications

References 93 publications

Detection of Dust in High-velocity Cloud Complex C–Enriched Gas Accreting onto the Milky Way ^*

Detection of Dust in High-velocity Cloud Complex C–Enriched Gas Accreting onto the Milky Way ^*

Chemical diversity of gas in distant galaxies

Dissecting the interstellar medium of a z = 6.3 galaxy

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Dust depletion of metals from local to distant galaxies

Cited by 14 publications

References 93 publications

Detection of Dust in High-velocity Cloud Complex C–Enriched Gas Accreting onto the Milky Way *

Detection of Dust in High-velocity Cloud Complex C–Enriched Gas Accreting onto the Milky Way *

Chemical diversity of gas in distant galaxies

Dissecting the interstellar medium of a z = 6.3 galaxy

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Product

Resources

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Detection of Dust in High-velocity Cloud Complex C–Enriched Gas Accreting onto the Milky Way ^*

Detection of Dust in High-velocity Cloud Complex C–Enriched Gas Accreting onto the Milky Way ^*