HST UV Spectroscopy of the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy Pox 186

Understand

Studying the galaxies responsible for reionization is often conducted through local reionization-era analogs; however, many of these local analogs are too massive to be representative of the low-mass star-forming galaxies that are thought to play a dominant role in reionization.

• The local, low-mass dwarf starburst galaxy Pox 186 is one such system with physical conditions representative of a reionization-era starburst galaxy.
• We present deep ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy of Pox 186 to study its stellar population and ionization conditions and to compare these conditions to other local starburst galaxies.
• The new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph data are combined with archival observations to cover $\sim$1150-2000 A and allow for an assessment of Pox 186's stellar population, the relative enrichment of C and O, and the escape of ionizing photons.