The Nature of Extreme Emission Line Galaxies at z=1-2: Kinematics and Metallicities from Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Understand

We present near-infrared spectroscopy of a sample of 22 Extreme Emission Line Galaxies at redshifts 1.3 < z < 2.3, confirming that these are low-mass (M* = 10^8 - 10^9 M_sun) galaxies undergoing intense starburst episodes (M*/SFR ~ 10-100 Myr).

• The sample is selected by [O III] or H{\alpha} emission line flux and equivalent width using near-infrared grism spectroscopy from the 3D-HST survey.
• High-resolution NIR spectroscopy is obtained with LBT/LUCI and VLT/X-SHOOTER.
• The [O III]/H{\beta} line ratio is high (> 5) and [N II]/H{\alpha} is always significantly below unity, which suggests a low gas-phase metallicity.