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Title:
The Neutral Interstellar Medium in Nearby Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies
Authors:
Garland, C. A.; Williams, J. P.; Pisano, D. J.; Guzmán, R.; Castander, F. J.
Affiliation:
AA(Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii), AB(Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii), AC(CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility), AD(University of Florida), AE(University of Florida)
Publication:
American Astronomical Society Meeting 203, #70.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 35, p.1317
Publication Date:
12/2003
Origin:
AAS
Bibliographic Code:
2003AAS...203.7002G

Abstract

We observed 20 nearby Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies (LCBGs) in H {I} and CO(J=2-1) with the GBT and JCMT. These ˜L⋆ galaxies are blue, high surface brightness, starbursting, high metallicity galaxies with an underlying older stellar population. They are common at z ˜1, but rare in the local Universe. It has been proposed that intermediate redshift LCBGs may be the progenitors of local dwarf ellipticals or low luminosity spirals, or that they may be more massive disks forming from the center outward to become L⋆ galaxies. To discriminate between the various possible evolutionary scenarios it is essential to measure their masses--to check whether these objects are as massive as implied by their high luminosities--and their gas content for future star formation to constrain the amount of fading of their stellar populations.

To measure the dynamical masses and gas properties of LCBGs we chose a local (D ≤ 70 Mpc) sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey using the same color (B-V ≤ 0.6), surface brightness (SBe ≤ 21 mag arc sec-2), and luminosity (MB ≤ -18.5) criteria as intermediate redshift LCBGs.

We find a wide range of gas properties in local LCBGs. H {I} masses span the range found in nearby spirals, while gas fractions, MHI/MDYN(R < R25), range from normal spiral to gas rich galaxies. The fractions of molecular to atomic gas mass are consistent with late-type low luminosity spirals.

From the H {I} spectra, the dynamical masses (within R25) range from 4 × 109 to 1 × 1011 Mȯ, consistent with local late-type spirals and dwarf ellipticals. Many nearby LCBGs have smaller dynamical masses than local galaxies of the same luminosity. Using IRAS star formation rates, we find the molecular gas may be depleted in 3 × 107 to 2 × 108 years, while the atomic gas may be depleted in 3 × 107 to 1 × 1010 years. These findings indicate that LCBGs are a heterogeneous group of galaxies; they are not likely to evolve into one homogeneous galaxy class.

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