Star formation in the nearby dwarf galaxy DDO 53: interplay between gas accretion and stellar feedback

TL;DR

This study investigates the gas dynamics, star formation, and feedback processes in the dwarf galaxy DDO 53, revealing a large supershell, gas accretion, and their roles in star formation regulation.

Contribution

It provides a multiwavelength analysis linking gas kinematics, ionisation, and star formation, highlighting the role of gas accretion and feedback in a dwarf galaxy.

Findings

Detection of a 2-kpc ionised gas supershell.

Identification of anomalous HI linked to gas accretion.

Evidence of gas inflow supporting star formation.

Abstract

We present the results of a multiwavelength study of the nearby dwarf galaxy DDO 53 - a relatively isolated member of the M 81 group. We analyse the atomic and ionised gas kinematics (based on the observations with Fabry-Perot interferometer in H$\alpha$ line and archival data in HI 21 cm line), distribution, excitation and oxygen abundance of the ionised gas (based on the long-slit and integral-field spectroscopy and on imaging with narrow-band filters), and their relation with the young massive stars (based on archival HST data). We detect a faint 2-kpc sized supershell of ionised gas surrounding the galaxy. Most probably, this structure represents a large-scale gas outflow, however it could be also created by the ionising quanta leaking from star-forming regions to the marginally detected atomic hydrogen surrounding the galactic disc. We analyse the properties of the anomalous HI in the north part of the galaxy and find that its peculiar kinematics is also traced by ionised gas. We argue that this HI feature is related to the accreting gas cloud captured from the intergalactic medium or remaining after the merger event occurred >1 Gyr ago. The infalling gas produces shocks in the interstellar medium and could support the star formation activity in the brightest region in DDO 53.