[en] The leakage of Lyman continuum (LyC) photons from star-forming galaxies is an elusive parameter. When observed, it provides a wealth of information on star formation in galaxies and on the geometry of the interstellar medium, and puts constraints on the role of star-forming galaxies in the reionization of the universe. Hα-selected galaxies at $z\sim <!--\; ???\; -->2$ trace the highest star formation population at the peak of cosmic star formation history, providing a base for directly measuring LyC escape. Here we present this method and highlight its benefits as well as caveats. We also use the method on 10 Hα emitters in the Chandra Deep Field South at $z=2.2,$ also imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope in the ultraviolet. We find no individual LyC detections, and our stack puts a 5σ upper limit on the average absolute escape fraction of <24%, consistent with similar studies. With future planned observations, the sample sizes should rapidly increase and the method presented here should provide very robust constraints on the escape fraction.

[en] The spectral energy distribution analysis of very young unresolved star clusters challenges our understanding of the cluster formation process. Studies of resolved massive clusters in the Milky Way and in the nearby Magellanic Clouds show us that the contribution from photoionized gas is very important during the first Myr of cluster evolution. We present our models which include both a self-consistent treatment of the photoionized gas and the stellar continuum and quantify the impact of such a nebular component on the total flux of young unresolved star clusters. A comparison with other available models is considered. The very young star clusters in the SBS 0335-052E dwarf starburst galaxy are used as a test for our models. Due to the low metallicity of the galactic medium our models predict a longer lasted nebular phase which contributes between 10% and 40% of the total near-infrared (NIR) fluxes at around 10 Myr. We thus propose a possible solution for the observed flux excess in the six bright super star clusters (SSCs) of SBS 0335-052E. Reines et al. showed that the observed cluster fluxes, in the red-optical and NIR range, sit irreconcilably above the stellar continuum models provided. We find that in the age range estimated from the Hα emission we can explain the red excess in all six SSCs as due to nebular emission, which at cluster ages around 10 Myr still affects the NIR wavebands substantially.

[en] We analyze the clump population of the spiral galaxy Sp 1149 at redshift 1.5. Located behind the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223, Sp 1149 has been significantly magnified allowing us to study the galaxy on physical scales down to ∼100 pc. The galaxy cluster frame is among the targets of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), an ongoing Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Multi-Cycle Treasury program. We have used the publicly available multi-band imaging data set to reconstruct the spectral energy distributions of the clumps in Sp 1149, and derive, by means of stellar evolutionary models, their physical properties. We found that 40% of the clumps observed in Sp 1149 are older than 30 Myr and can be as old as 300 Myr. These are also the more massive (luminous) clumps in the galaxy. Among the complexes in the local reference sample, the star-forming knots in luminous blue compact galaxies could be considered progenitor analogs of these long-lived clumps. The remaining 60% of clumps have colors comparable to local cluster complexes, suggesting a similar young age. We observe that the Sp 1149 clumps follow the M∝R ² relation similar to local cluster complexes, suggesting similar formation mechanisms although they may have different initial conditions (e.g., higher gas surface densities). We suggest that the galaxy is experiencing a slow decline in star formation rate and a likely transitional phase toward a more quiescent star formation mode. The older clumps have survived between 6 and 20 dynamical times and are all located at projected distances smaller than 4 kpc from the center. Their current location suggests migration toward the center and the possibility of being the building blocks of the bulge. On the other hand, the dynamical timescale of the younger clumps is significantly shorter, meaning that they are quite close to their birthplace. We show that the clumps of Sp 1149 may account for the expected metal-rich globular cluster population usually associated with the bulge and thick disk components of local spirals.

[en] We estimate the fraction of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) that remain undetected by optical SN searches due to obscuration by large amounts of dust in their host galaxies. This effect is especially important in luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies, which are locally rare but dominate the star formation at redshifts of z ∼ 1-2. We perform a detailed investigation of the SN activity in the nearby luminous infrared galaxy Arp 299 and estimate that up to 83% of the SNe in Arp 299 and in similar galaxies in the local universe are missed by observations at optical wavelengths. For rest-frame optical surveys we find the fraction of SNe missed due to high dust extinction to increase from the average local value of ∼19% to ∼38% at z ∼ 1.2 and then remain roughly constant up to z ∼ 2. It is therefore crucial to take into account the effects of obscuration by dust when determining SN rates at high redshift and when predicting the number of CCSNe detectable by future high-z surveys such as LSST, JWST, and Euclid. For a sample of nearby CCSNe (distances 6-15 Mpc) detected during the last 12 yr, we find a lower limit for the local CCSN rate of 1.5^+0.4_–0.3 × 10^–4 yr^–1 Mpc^–3, consistent with that expected from the star formation rate. Even closer, at distances less than ∼6 Mpc, we find a significant increase in the CCSN rate, indicating a local overdensity of star formation caused by a small number of galaxies that have each hosted multiple SNe.