Extraplanar H II Regions in Spiral Galaxies. I. Low-Metallicity Gas Accreting through the Disk-Halo Interface of NGC 4013

TL;DR

This study uses optical spectroscopy to analyze a thick disk H II region in NGC 4013, revealing low-metallicity gas accretion through the disk-halo interface, supporting fountain-driven accretion models.

Contribution

First detailed spectroscopic analysis of a thick disk H II region showing low-metallicity gas accretion in a spiral galaxy.

Findings

Thick disk H II region has half the metallicity of midplane regions.

Evidence of incomplete mixing of gas on small scales.

Supports models of low-metallicity gas accretion via galactic fountains.

Abstract

The interstellar thick disks of galaxies serve as the interface between the thin star-forming disk, where feedback-driven outflows originate, and the distant halo, the repository for accreted gas. We present optical emission line spectroscopy of a luminous thick disk H II region located at $z = 860$ pc above the plane of the spiral galaxy NGC 4013 taken with the Multi-Object Double Spectrograph on the Large Binocular Telescope. This nebula, with an H$\alpha$ luminosity $\sim4-7$ times that of the Orion nebula, surrounds a luminous cluster of young, hot stars that ionize the surrounding interstellar gas of the thick disk, providing a measure of the properties of that gas. We demonstrate that strong emission line methods can provide accurate measures of relative abundances between pairs of H II regions. From our emission line spectroscopy, we show that the metal content of the thick disk H II region is a factor of $\approx2$ lower than gas in H II regions at the midplane of this galaxy (with the relative abundance of O in the thick disk lower by $-0.32\pm 0.09$ dex). This implies incomplete mixing of material in the thick disk on small scales (100s of parsecs) and that there is accretion of low-metallicity gas through the thick disks of spirals. The inclusion of low-metallicity gas this close to the plane of NGC 4013 is reminiscent of the recently-proposed "fountain-driven" accretion models.