Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part I Abundances in the Galaxy: field stars
- Part II Abundances in the Galaxy: Galactic stars in clusters, bulges and the centre
- Part III Observations – abundances in extragalactic contexts
- Part IV Stellar populations and mass functions
- 24 The stellar initial mass function of metal-rich populations
- 25 Initial-mass-function effects on the metallicity and colour evolution of disc galaxies
- 26 The metallicity of circumnuclear star-forming regions
- 27 The stellar population of bulges
- 28 The metallicity distribution of the stars in elliptical galaxies
- 29 Wolf–Rayet populations at high metallicity
- 30 The stellar populations of metal-rich starburst galaxies: the frequency of Wolf–Rayet stars
- Part V Physical processes at high metallicity
- Part VI Formation and evolution of metal-rich stars and stellar yields
- Part VII Chemical and photometric evolution beyond Solar metallicity
30 - The stellar populations of metal-rich starburst galaxies: the frequency of Wolf–Rayet stars
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part I Abundances in the Galaxy: field stars
- Part II Abundances in the Galaxy: Galactic stars in clusters, bulges and the centre
- Part III Observations – abundances in extragalactic contexts
- Part IV Stellar populations and mass functions
- 24 The stellar initial mass function of metal-rich populations
- 25 Initial-mass-function effects on the metallicity and colour evolution of disc galaxies
- 26 The metallicity of circumnuclear star-forming regions
- 27 The stellar population of bulges
- 28 The metallicity distribution of the stars in elliptical galaxies
- 29 Wolf–Rayet populations at high metallicity
- 30 The stellar populations of metal-rich starburst galaxies: the frequency of Wolf–Rayet stars
- Part V Physical processes at high metallicity
- Part VI Formation and evolution of metal-rich stars and stellar yields
- Part VII Chemical and photometric evolution beyond Solar metallicity
Summary
We conducted an optical survey (Keck Telescope, 3,700–7,000 Å) of 24 high-metallicity (Z) starburst galaxies to investigate whether high-Zenvironments favor the formation of Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars. We searched for the presence of the He II 4686 Å line produced by the massive WR stars. We detected this feature in six galaxies (25% of the sample). We also used a stellar-population-synthesis code to determine their ages. We find that (i) all galaxies hosting considerable numbers of WR stars are very young systems, with ages log(t) > 8, with t in years; (ii) not all young star-forming galaxies host WR stars, or at least that population cannot be detected in their integrated spectra; and (iii) most galaxies hosting WR populations are found in interacting systems. We for the first time detect WR populations in galaxies ESO 485-G003, NGC 6090, and NGC 2798.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Metal-Rich Universe , pp. 288 - 292Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008