Description
At high redshift, starburst galaxies present irregular morphologies, with 10-20% of their star formation occurring in giant clumps. These clumpy galaxies are considered to be the progenitors of local disk galaxies. To understand the properties of starbursts at intermediate and low redshift, it is fundamental to track their evolution and possible link with the systems at higher z. We present an extensive, systematic, and multi-band search and analysis of the starburst galaxies at redshift (0<z<0.5) in the COSMOS field, as well as detailed characteristics of their star-forming clumps by using Hubble Space Telescope/Advance Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS) images. The starburst galaxies are identified using a tailor-made intermediate-band color excess selection, tracing the simultaneous presence of H{alpha} and [OIII] emission lines in the galaxies. Our methodology uses previous information from the zCOSMOS spectral database to calibrate the color excess as a function of the equivalent width of both spectral lines. This technique allows us to identify 220 starburst galaxies at redshift 0<z<0.5 using the SUBARU intermediate-band filters. Combining the high spatial resolution images from the HST/ACS with ground-based multi-wavelength photometry we identify and parametrize the star-forming clumps in every galaxy. Their principal properties, sizes, masses, and star formation rates are provided.
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