Spatially Resolved C III] λ1909 Emission in Haro 11

Abstract

The C III] 1909 (hereafter C III]) line is the strongest ultraviolet emission line after Lyα and is therefore of interest to high-redshift studies of star-forming (SF) galaxies near the epoch of reionization. It is thought that C III] emission is strongest in galaxies with subsolar metallicity and low mass; however, spectral observations of numerous such galaxies at high and low redshift produce inconclusive or even contradictory results. We present the first-ever C III] imaging, obtained with HST/STIS for the low-redshift SF galaxy Haro 11. Cluster parameters like stellar mass, dust fraction and attenuation, and ionization parameter, obtained through spectral energy distribution fitting, show no correlation with the C III] equivalent width (EW), which may be due to a combination of the limitation of the models and the age homogeneity of the cluster population. Comparing the ratio of C III] emission line flux from individual clusters to that of Hα, [O III], and [O II], we find that the clusters with the highest EW(C III]) can be reconciled only with Cloudy models with an extremely high C/O ratio of ≥1.4(C/O)_⊙ for an ionizing population of single stars, binary stars, or a mixture of binary stars and active galactic nuclei. Given the pointlike nature of strong C III], the integrated total strength of EW(C III]) becomes dependent on the morphology of the galaxy, which would explain the large scatter in EW(C III]) strengths observed in galaxies with otherwise similar SF properties and of similarly low metallicity and stellar mass.