Understanding Galaxy Evolution through Emission Lines

Understand

We review the use of emission-lines for understanding galaxy evolution, focusing on excitation source, metallicity, ionization parameter, ISM pressure and electron density.

• We show that the UV, optical and infrared contain complementary diagnostics that can probe the conditions within different nebular ionization zones.
• In anticipation of upcoming telescope facilities, we provide new self-consistent emission-line diagnostic calibrations for complete spectral coverage from the UV to the infrared.
• These diagnostics can be used in concert to understand how fundamental galaxy properties have changed across cosmic time.