SAMI-H i: the connection between global asymmetry in the ionized and neutral atomic hydrogen gas in galaxies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Observations of the neutral atomic hydrogen (${\rm H\, {\small I}}$) gas in galaxies are predominantly spatially unresolved, in the form of a global ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ spectral line. There has been substantial work on quantifying asymmetry in global ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ spectra (‘global ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ asymmetry’), but due to being spatially unresolved, it remains unknown what physical regions of galaxies the asymmetry traces, and whether the other gas phases are affected. Using optical integral field spectrograph (IFS) observations from the Sydney AAO Multi-object IFS (SAMI) survey for which global ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ spectra are also available (SAMI-${\rm H\, {\small I}}$), we study the connection between asymmetry in galaxies’ ionized and neutral gas reservoirs to test if and how they can help us better understand the origin of global ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ asymmetry. We reconstruct the global Hα spectral line from the IFS observations and find that while some global Hα asymmetries can arise from disturbed ionized gas kinematics, the majority of asymmetric cases are driven by the distribution of Hα-emitting gas. When compared to the ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$, we find no evidence for a relationship between the global Hα and ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ asymmetry. Further, a visual inspection reveals that cases where galaxies have qualitatively similar Hα and ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ spectral profiles can be spurious, with the similarity originating from an irregular 2D Hα flux distribution. Our results highlight that comparisons between global Hα and ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ asymmetry are not straightforward, and that many global ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ asymmetries trace disturbances that do not significantly impact the central regions of galaxies.