On the Origin of the Strong Optical Variability of Emission-line Galaxies

TL;DR

This study investigates the optical variability of emission-line galaxies over a 12-year span, revealing that a small fraction show significant variability likely due to supernovae or star formation, with no strong evidence of bright AGN activity.

Contribution

First comprehensive analysis of long-term optical variability in emission-line galaxies using narrow-band data from Subaru telescopes, highlighting the roles of supernovae and star formation.

Findings

11.9% of [OIII] emitters show significant variability

No bright AGN detected in variable ELGs

Variability likely driven by supernovae and star formation

Abstract

Emission-line galaxies (ELGs) are crucial in understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies, while little is known about their variability. Here we report the study on the optical variability of a sample of ELGs selected in the COSMOS field, which has narrow-band observations in two epochs separated by $\gtrsim$ 12 years. This sample was observed with Suprime-Cam (SC) and Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the $Subaru$ telescope in NB816 and $i'/i$ bands, respectively. After carefully removing the wing effect of a narrow-band filter, we check the optical variability in a sample of 181 spectroscopically confirmed ELGs. We find that 0 (0/68) Ha emitters, 11.9% (5/42) [OIII] emitters, and 0 (0/71) [OII] emitters show significant variability ($|\Delta m_{NB}| \geq 3\,\sigma_{\Delta m_{NB,AGN}} = 0.20\, mag$) in the two-epoch narrow-band observations. We investigate the presence of active galactic nucleus (AGN) in this variable ELG (var-ELG) sample with three methods, including X-ray luminosity, mid-infrared activity, and radio-excess. We find zero bright AGN in this var-ELG sample, but cannot rule out the contribution from faint AGN. We find that SNe could also dominate the variability of the var-ELG sample. The merger morphology shown in the HST/F814W images of all the var-ELG sample is in agreement with the enhancement of star formation, i.e., the SNe activity.