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We present results from deep HI and optical imaging of AGC 229101, an unusual HI source detected at v$_{\rm helio}$ = 7116 km/s in the ALFALFA survey. Initially classified as a candidate "dark" source because it lacks a clear optical counterpart in SDSS or DSS2 imaging, AGC 229101 has $10^{9.31\pm0.05}$ solar masses of HI, but an HI line width of only 43$\pm$9 km/s. Low resolution WSRT imaging and higher resolution VLA B-array imaging show that the source is significantly elongated, stretching over a projected length of ~80 kpc. The HI imaging resolves the source into two parts of roughly equal mass. WIYN pODI optical imaging reveals a faint, blue optical counterpart coincident with the northern portion of the HI. The peak surface brightness of the optical source is only $\mu_{g}$ = 26.6 mag arcsec$^{-2}$, well below the typical cutoff that defines the isophotal edge of a galaxy, and its estimated stellar mass is only $10^{7.32\pm0.33}$ solar masses, yielding an overall neutral gas-to-stellar mass ratio of M$_{\rm HI}$/M$_*=$~98$_{+111}\atop^{-52}$. We demonstrate the extreme nature of this object by comparing its properties to those of other HI-rich sources in ALFALFA and the literature. We also explore potential scenarios that might explain the existence of AGC~229101, including a tidal encounter with neighboring objects and a merger of two dark HI clouds., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted by AJ

Extremely metal-poor (XMP) galaxies are low-mass, star-forming galaxies with gas-phase oxygen abundances below 12 + log(O/H) = 7.35 (∼ 1/20 Z⊙). Galaxy evolution scenarios suggest three pathways to form an XMP: (1) secular evolution at low galaxy masses, (2) slow evolution in voids, or (3) dilution of measured abundances from infall of pristine gas. The recently discovered XMP galaxy Leoncino, with an oxygen abundance below 3% Z {}⊙, provides an opportunity to explore these different scenarios. Using Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the resolved stellar populations of Leoncino, we measure the distance to the galaxy to be D={12.1}-3.4+1.7 Mpc and find that Leoncino is located in an underdense environment. Leoncino has a compact morphology, hosts a population of young, massive stars, has a high gas-to-star mass ratio, and shows signs of interaction with a galaxy nearby on the sky, UGC 5186. Similar to nearly all XMP galaxies known in the nearby universe, Leoncino is offset from the Luminosity-Metallicity (LZ) relation. However, Leoncino is consistent with the stellar Mass-Metallicity (MZ) relation defined by Local Volume galaxies. Thus, our results suggest that the offset from the LZ relation is due to higher recent star formation, likely triggered by a minor interaction, while the low oxygen abundance is consistent with the expectation that low-mass galaxies will undergo secular evolution marked by inefficient star formation and metal loss via galactic winds. This is in contrast to XMP galaxies that are outliers in both the LZ and MZ relations; in such cases, the low oxygen abundances are best explained by dilution due to the infall of pristine gas. We also discuss why quiescent XMP galaxies are underrepresented in current surveys.

We present the second catalog of serendipitously discovered compact extragalactic emission-line sources -- H$��$ Dots. These objects have been discovered in searches of moderately deep narrow-band images acquired for the ALFALFA H$��$ project (Van Sistine et al. 2016). In addition to cataloging 119 new H$��$ Dots, we also present follow-up spectral data for the full sample. These spectra allow us to confirm the nature of these objects as true extragalactic emission-line objects, to classify them in terms of activity type (star forming or AGN), and to identify the emission line via which they were discovered. We tabulate photometric and spectroscopic data for the all objects, and present an overview of the properties of the full H$��$ Dot sample. The H$��$ Dots represent a broad range of star-forming and active galaxies detected via several different emission lines over a wide range of redshifts. The sample includes H$��$-detected blue compact dwarf galaxies at low redshift, [\ion{O}{3}]-detected Seyfert 2 and Green Pea-like galaxies at intermediate redshifts, and QSOs detected via one of several UV emission lines, including Ly$��$. Despite the heterogeneous appearance of the resulting catalog of objects, we show that our selection method leads to well-defined samples of specific classes of emission-line objects with properties that allow for statistical studies of each class., Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

The combination of sensitivity and large sky coverage of the ALFALFA HI survey has enabled the detection of difficult to observe low mass galaxies in large numbers, including dwarf galaxies overlooked in optical surveys. Three different, but connected, studies of dwarf galaxies from the ALFALFA survey are of particular interest: SHIELD (Survey of HI in Extremely Low-mass Dwarfs), candidate gas-rich ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, and the (Almost) Dark population. SHIELD is a systematic multiwavelength study of all dwarf galaxies from ALFALFA with MHI < 107.2M⊙ and clear optical counterparts. Candidate gas-rich ultra-faint dwarf galaxies extend the dwarf galaxy population to even lower masses. These galaxies are identified as isolated HI clouds with no discernible optical counterpart but subsequent observations reveal that some are extremely faint, gas-dominated galaxies. Leo P, discovered first as an HI detection, and then found to be an actively star-forming galaxy, bridges the gap between these candidate galaxies and the SHIELD sample. The (Almost) Dark sample consists of galaxies whose optical counterparts are overlooked in current optical surveys but which are clear detections in ALFALFA. This sample includes field gas-rich ultra-diffuse galaxies. Coma P, with a peak surface brightness of only ∼26.4 mag arcsec−2 in g’, demonstrates the sort of extreme low surface brightness galaxy that can be discovered in an HI survey.

We present new multi-configuration VLA HI spectral line imaging of the dwarf galaxies AGC 198691 (hereafter, Leoncino) and UGC 5186. Leoncino is one of 82 galaxies in the "Survey of HI in Extremely Low-mass Dwarfs" ("SHIELD"), a multi-wavelength investigation of low-mass galaxies that were cataloged by the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey. Leoncino is one of the lowest metallicity galaxies known in the local universe (Hirschauer et al. 2016). A single pointing with the VLA allows us to study the HI morphology and dynamics of both galaxies simultaneously. We present HI images at a variety of angular resolutions in order to explore both the global and the resolved properties of the neutral ISM.

We present deep HI and optical imaging of AGC 229101, an enigmatic and potentially unique source detected in the ALFALFA survey. Though it has an HI mass >109 solar masses, it is not detected in SDSS imaging, and has a very narrow HI line width. Deep follow up imaging with pODI on the WIYN 3.5m at KPNO detects a very blue, very low surface brightness optical counterpart with a stellar mass 80 kpc as projected on the sky. We compare the properties of AGC 229101 to other extreme HI-rich sources, and demonstrate that its properties appear to be unique relative to others sources in ALFALFA. We discuss potential explanations, including a tidal encounter between neighboring sources, a merger of two independent, almost dark sources, and gas in-fall along a filament.

The “Survey of HI in Extremely Low-mass Dwarfs” (SHIELD) is a multiwavelength study of local volume low-mass galaxies drawn from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) catalog. HST/Spitzer joint program GO-12658 revealed the stellar populations of the first 12 SHIELD galaxies (Cannon et al. 2011), allowing accurate distance measurements (McQuinn et al. 2014) and detailed studies of the patterns of recent star formation in each galaxy (McQuinn et al. 2015). These HST and Spitzer images are a critical interpretive benchmark for ground-based optical imaging and spectroscopy (Haurberg et al. 2015), as well as for sensitive VLA HI spectral line imaging of the SHIELD galaxies (McNichols et al. 2016; Teich et al. 2016). These results have furthered our understanding of the evolution of galaxies in a mass regime that was previously only sparsely populated. With the low-redshift ALFALFA catalog now complete, the scope of the SHIELD program has been expanded to include all 82 galaxies that meet distance, line width, and HI flux criteria for being gas-rich, low-mass galaxies. In HST program 13750, images of 18 more SHIELD galaxies have again set the physical scales for supporting HI spectral line imaging with both the VLA and the WSRT (Gordon et al. 2016). Taken as a whole, the ongoing SHIELD program is one of the most comprehensive multiwavelength studies of the physical properties of low-mass galaxies outside of the Local Group.

The “Survey of HI in Extremely Low-mass Dwarfs” (SHIELD) is a multiwavelength study of local volume low-mass galaxies. Using the now-complete Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) source catalog, 82 systems are identified that meet distance, line width, and HI flux criteria for being gas-rich, low-mass galaxies. These systems harbor neutral gas reservoirs smaller than 3x10^7 M_sun, thus populating the faint end of the HI mass function with statistical confidence for the first time. In a companion poster, we present new Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array D-configuration HI spectral line observations of 32 previously unobserved galaxies. Three galaxies in that study have been discovered to lie in close angular proximity to more massive galaxies. Here we present VLA HI imaging of these candidate interacting systems. We compare the neutral gas morphology and kinematics with optical images from SDSS. We discuss the frequency of low-mass galaxies undergoing tidal interaction in the complete SHIELD sample.Support for this work was provided by NSF grant 1211683 to JMC at Macalester College.

We present high S/N spectroscopy of 15 emission-line galaxies (ELGs) cataloged in the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey (KISS), selected for their possession of high equivalent width [O III] lines. The primary goal of this study was to attempt to derive direct-method ($T_e$) abundances for use in constraining the upper-metallicity branch of the $R_{23}$ relation. The spectra cover the full optical region from [O II]{\lambda}{\lambda}3726,3729 to [S III]{\lambda}{\lambda}9069,9531 and include the measurement of [O III]{\lambda}4363 in 13 objects. From these spectra, we determine abundance ratios of helium, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, sulfur, and argon. We find these galaxies to predominantly possess oxygen abundances in the range of 8.0 $\lesssim$ 12+log(O/H) $\lesssim$ 8.3. We present a comparison of direct-method abundances with empirical SEL techniques, revealing several discrepancies. We also present a comparison of direct-method oxygen abundance calculations using electron temperatures determined from emission lines of O$^{++}$ and S$^{++}$, finding a small systematic shift to lower $T_e$ (~1184 K) and higher metallicity (~0.14 dex) for sulfur-derived $T_e$ compared to oxygen-derived $T_e$. Finally, we explore in some detail the different spectral activity types of targets in our sample, including regular star-forming galaxies, those with suspected AGN contamination, and a local pair of low-metallicity, high-luminosity compact objects., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal; 26 pages, 14 figures, 4 tables

It has been proposed that the mass-metallicity relation of galaxies exhibits a secondary dependence on star formation rate (SFR), and that the resulting M-Z-SFR relation may be redshift-invariant, i.e., "fundamental." However, conflicting results on the character of the SFR dependence, and whether it exists, have been reported. To gain insight into the origins of the conflicting results, we (a) devise a non-parametric, astrophysically motivated analysis framework based on the offset from the star-forming ("main") sequence at a given stellar mass (relative specific SFR), (b) apply this methodology and perform a comprehensive re-analysis of the local M-Z-SFR relation, based on SDSS, GALEX, and WISE data, and (c) study the impact of sample selection, and of using different metallicity and SFR indicators. We show that metallicity is anti-correlated with specific SFR regardless of the indicators used. We do not find that the relation is spurious due to correlations arising from biased metallicity measurements, or fiber aperture effects. We emphasize that the dependence is weak/absent for massive galaxies ($\log M_*>10.5$), and that the overall scatter in the M-Z-SFR relation does not greatly decrease from the M-Z relation. We find that the dependence is stronger for the highest SSFR galaxies above the star-forming sequence. This two-mode behavior can be described with a broken linear fit in 12+log(O/H) vs. log (SFR$/M_*$), at a given $M_*$. Previous parameterizations used for comparative analysis with higher redshift samples that do not account for the more detailed behavior of the local M-Z-SFR relation may incorrectly lead to the conclusion that those samples follow a different relationship., ApJ. Several minor corrections

The Survey of HI in Extremely Low-mass Dwarf galaxies (SHIELD) is an on-going multi-wavelength program to characterize the gas, star formation, and evolution in gas-rich, very low-mass galaxies. The galaxies were selected from the first ~10% of the HI ALFALFA survey based on their inferred low HI mass and low baryonic mass, and all systems have recent star formation. Thus, the SHIELD sample probes the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function for star-forming galaxies. Here, we measure the distances to the 12 SHIELD galaxies to be between 5-12 Mpc by applying the tip of the red giant method to the resolved stellar populations imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. Based on these distances, the HI masses in the sample range from $4\times10^6$ to $6\times10^7$ M$_{\odot}$, with a median HI mass of $1\times10^7$ M$_{\odot}$. The TRGB distances are up to 73% farther than flow-model estimates in the ALFALFA catalog. Because of the relatively large uncertainties of flow model distances, we are biased towards selecting galaxies from the ALFALFA catalog where the flow model underestimates the true distances. The measured distances allow for an assessment of the native environments around the sample members. Five of the galaxies are part of the NGC 672 and NGC 784 groups, which together constitute a single structure. One galaxy is part of a larger linear ensemble of 9 systems that stretches 1.6 Mpc from end to end. Two galaxies reside in regions with 1-4 neighbors, and four galaxies are truly isolated with no known system identified within a radius of 1 Mpc., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables

We present Keck LRIS spectroscopy of the black hole–hosting globular cluster RZ 2109 in the Virgo elliptical galaxy NGC 4472. We find that this object has extraordinarily broad [O III] λ5007 and [O III] λ4959 emission lines, with velocity widths of approximately 2000 km s^-1. This result has significant implications for the nature of this accreting black hole system and the mass of the globular cluster black hole. We show that the broad [O III] λ5007 emission must arise from material driven at high velocity from the black hole system. This is because the volume available near the black hole is too small by many orders of magnitude to have enough [O III]-emitting atoms to account for the observed L([O III] λ5007) at high velocities, even if this volume is filled with oxygen at the critical density for [O III] λ5007. The Balmer emission is also weak, indicating the observed [O III] is not due to shocks. We therefore conclude that the [O III] λλ4959, 5007 is produced by photoionization of material driven across the cluster. The only known way to drive significant material at high velocity is for a system accreting mass near or above its Eddington limit, which indicates a stellar-mass black hole. Since it is dynamically implausible to form an accreting stellar-mass black hole system in a globular cluster with an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH), it appears this massive globular cluster does not have an IMBH. We discuss further tests of this conclusion, and its implications for the MBH-Mstellar and MBH-σ relations.

Objective-prism surveys for UV-excess and emission-line objects, especially the First and Second Byurakan Surveys, have been central to the study of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We review previous line-selected surveys for AGNs and discuss their contribution to our understanding of the AGN phenomena. In addition, we present results from the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey, a modern digital objective-prism survey for emission line objects. This survey is discovering substantial numbers of new AGNs, in particular low-luminosity AGNs and LINERs., Comment: To appear in IAU Colloq. 184, AGN Surveys, ed. R. F. Green, E. Ye. Khachikian, & D. B. Sanders (San Francisco: ASP), in press. 10 pages

Searches for low-metallicity galaxies are reviewed, focusing mainly on efforts to discover systems that are relevant for use in measuring the primordial helium abundance. Wide-field objective-prism surveys for blue or emission-line galaxies have played a major role in this field. Previous surveys and search techniques are highlighted. Preliminary results from our new survey for emission-line galaxies, the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey (KISS), are presented. KISS is substantially deeper than previous photographic surveys, and represents the next generation of wide-field slitless spectroscopic surveys., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, style files included; to appear in "Dwarf Galaxies and Cosmology", eds. Thuan et al., Editions Frontieres

A long standing problem in cosmology is the mismatch between the number of low mass dark matter halos predicted by simulations and the number of low mass galaxies observed in the Local Volume. We recently presented a set of isolated ultra-compact high velocity clouds (UCHVCs) identified within the dataset of the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) HI line survey that are consistent with representing low-mass gas-bearing dark matter halos within the Local Volume (Adams+ 2013). At distances of ~1 Mpc, the UCHVCs have HI masses of ~10^5 Msun and indicative dynamical masses of 10^7-10^8 Msun. The HI diameters of the UCHVCs range from 4' to 20', or 1 to 6 kpc at a distance of 1 Mpc.We have selected the most compact and isolated UCHVCs with the highest average column densities as representing the best galaxy candidates. These systems have been observed with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) to enable higher spatial resolution (~60") studies of the HI distribution. The HI morphology revealed by the WSRT data offers clues to the environment and origin of the UCHVCs, the kinematics of the HI allow the underlying mass distribution to be constrained, and the combination of spatial and spectral resolution allow the detection of a cold neutral medium component to the HI. The WSRT HI observations discriminate among the selected galaxy candidates for those objects that are most likely gas-bearing dark matter halos.One UCHVC, AGC198606, is of particular interest as it is located 16 km/s and 1.2 degrees from Leo T and has similar HI properties within the ALFALFA dataset. The WSRT HI observations reveal a smooth HI morphology and a velocity gradient along the HI major axis of the system consistent with rotation. These properties are consistent with the hypothesis that this object is a gas-bearing low-mass dark matter halo.

Studying dwarf galaxies can shed light on the original building blocks of galaxy formation. Most large galaxies are thought to be built up over billions of years through the collisions and mergers of smaller galaxies. The dwarf galaxies we see today are the evolved remnants of those building blocks, and by understanding their nature and evolution, we can study the raw ingredients of galaxy formation. Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies (BCDs) and Almost Dark galaxies are at opposite extremes of today's population of dwarf galaxies. BCDs are exceptionally compact and host very intense starbursts, while Almost Dark galaxies are much more diffuse and have weak stellar populations. This work studies the evolutionary context of BCDs by using deep, high-resolution images to study the detailed structure of their components, and by fitting our multi-wavelength observations with models to describe the properties of their stars, gas, and dust. BCDs appear to have exceptionally compact old stellar populations and unusually large star formation rates, when compared to typical dwarf galaxies. By contrast, the optically faint, gas-dominated Almost Dark galaxies have extremely low star formation rates and weak stellar populations. In particular, one of the Almost Darks studied in this work has very unusual properties and is in disagreement with widely-studied scaling relations for large samples of galaxies. It appears to have too little stellar mass, a distribution of HI that is too extended to be supported by its modest rotation, and the highest well-measured gas mass-to-light ratio ever observed. These two extreme classes may represent evolutionary stages that all galaxies pass through, and appear to be extreme ends of the broad continuum of dwarf galaxy properties. In order to use today's dwarf galaxies as windows into the building blocks of early galaxy formation, these unusual states and evolutionary pathways must be understood.