Thesis

Starburst activity and structural properties of Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies

• Call:

  IDPASC Portugal - PHD Programme 2015

• Academic Year:

  2015 / 2016

• Domain:

  Astrophysics

• Supervisor:

  Polychronis Papaderos

• Co-Supervisor:

  Jean Michel Gomes

• Institution:

  Universidade do Porto

• Host Institution:

  IA-CAUP

• Abstract:

  Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies are the best local analogues of low-mass protogalactic units that rapidly formed out of almost metal-free gas in the early Universe. These galaxies undergo vigorous starburst activity over a spatial extent of ~1 kpc, producing thousands of massive OB stars in a brief (10 Myr) starburst episode. The release of energy and momentum from stellar winds and supernovae is expected to lead to a large-scale acceleration and thermalization of the gas component of BCDs, and the ejection of hot (several 10^6 K), metal-enriched gas into their halo in form of fast (a few 100 km/s) galactic winds. This PhD project will center on the analysis of broad-band (B,R,I) and narrow-band (Halpha) data for a sample of approximately 100 BCDs. Its main goals are: a) to investigate starburst-driven galactic outflows using narrow-band images and longslit and integral field spectroscopy data, and b) to carry out a systematic investigation of the structural properties of the starburst component and underlying host galaxy of the sample BCDs using surface photometry and profile decomposition techniques.