HII galaxy explained

An HII galaxy is a very luminous dwarf starburst galaxy. Generally, HII galaxies have a low metallicity and high percentage of neutral hydrogen. There is generally believed to be a relationship between luminosity and disturbed morphology, suggesting that the starburst activity in the galaxy is caused by tidal interactions.[1] The distribution of luminosities tends to cluster around two different extremes: those with a high luminosity and highly disturbed morphology, and those with a low luminosity and fairly regular and symmetric morphology.[2] Those with high luminosities are labelled by some as type I HII galaxies and those with lower luminosities as type II HII galaxies. There is also a general correlation between metallicity and mass of the galaxies.[3] The name of HII galaxies comes from their spectroscopic properties which are more or less indistinguishable from that of HII regions.

References

  1. Telles. Eduardo. Terlevich. Roberto. 1995-07-01. The environment of HII galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. en. 275. 1. 1–8. 10.1093/mnras/275.1.1. 0035-8711. free. astro-ph/9501084.
  2. Telles. Eduardo. Melnick. Jorge. Terlevich. Roberto. 1997-06-11. The morphology of H II galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. en. 288. 1. 78–107. 10.1093/mnras/288.1.78. 0035-8711. free. astro-ph/9701062.
  3. 1991A&AS...89..389M Page 389. Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 1991A&AS...89..389M . 2020-04-11 . Maza . J. . Ruiz . M. T. . Pena . M. . Gonzalez . L. E. . Wischnjewsky . M. . 1991 . 89 . 389 .