Metals from star-forming dwarfs: retention or ejection?

Kunth, Daniel; Legrand, Françcois; Tenorio-Tagle, Guillermo; Silich, Sergey; Mas-Hesse, J. Miguel; Cerviño, M.
Bibliographical reference

Astrophysics and Space Science, v. 281, Issue 1, p. 261-266 (2002).

Advertised on:
7
2002
Number of authors
6
IAC number of authors
0
Citations
3
Refereed citations
2
Description
We show evidences that gas outflows occur in starburst galaxies as superbubbles evolve. We then question whether hot gas will be expelled and enrich the IGM with metals or be retained within the host galaxy. For this purpose we construct three extreme scenarios of the star formation histories for a sample of dwarf galaxies using either their present metallicity or their luminosity. The three scenarios imply different mechanical energy input rates, those are compared with theoretical lower limits for the ejection of processed matter out of host galaxies. The comparison strongly points at the existence of extended gaseous haloes acting as a barrier that allows these galaxies to retain their metals and enhance their abundance. Our findings strongly point that continuous star-forming processes, rather than coeval bursts, must contribute to the overall metallicity in our galaxy sample.