The Lyman-alpha Reference Sample: I. Survey outline and first results for Markarian 259
G\"oran \"Ostlin, Matthew Hayes, Florent Duval, Andreas Sandberg,, Thoger Rivera-Thorsen, Thomas Marquart, Ivana Orlitova, Angela Adamo, Jens, Melinder, Lucia Guaita, Hakim Atek, John M. Cannon, Pieter Gruyters, Edmund, Christian Herenz, Daniel Kunth, Peter Laursen

TL;DR
This paper introduces the Lyman-alpha Reference Sample (LARS), a Hubble Space Telescope survey of local galaxies designed to study Lyman-alpha emission, presenting initial results from the first galaxy, Mrk 259, including imaging, spectroscopy, and radiative transfer modeling.
Contribution
The paper presents the design, methodology, and first observational results of the LARS survey, including a new software tool for Lyman-alpha image extraction and analysis of the first galaxy, Mrk 259.
Findings
Mrk 259 shows extended, asymmetric Lyman-alpha emission.
The Lyman-alpha escape fraction in Mrk 259 is 12%.
Radiative transfer modeling confirms outflow presence.
Abstract
The Lyman-alpha reference sample (LARS) is a program with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) that provides a sample of local universe laboratory galaxies in which to study the astrophysics of the visibility and strength of the Lyman-alpha (Lya) line of hydrogen. This article presents an overview of the survey, its selection function and HST imaging observations. The sample was selected from the GALEX+SDSS catalogue at z=0.028-0.19, in order to allow Lya to be captured with combinations of long pass filters in the Solar Blind Channel (SBC) of HST/ACS. In addition, LARS utilises Halpha and Hbeta narrow, and U, B, i broad-band imaging with ACS and WFC3. In order to study galaxies in which large numbers of Lya photons are produced we demanded an Halpha equivalent width > 100{\AA}. The sample of 14 galaxies covers far UV (FUV) luminosities that overlaps with those of high-z Lya emitters and…
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