Systematic study of outflows in the Local Universe using CALIFA: I. Sample selection and main properties

Abstract

We present a sample of 17 objects from the CALIFA survey where we find initial evidence of galactic winds based on their off-axis ionization properties. We identify the presence of outflows using various optical diagnostic diagrams (e.g., EW(H$α$), [Nii]/H$α$, [Sii]/H$α$, [Oi]/H$α$ line-ratio maps). We find that all 17 candidate outflow galaxies lie along the sequence of active star formation in the M$_\star$ vs. star-formation rate diagram, without a clear excess in the integrated SFR. The location of galaxies along the star-formation main sequence (SFMS) does not influence strongly the presence or not of outflows. The analysis of the star-formation rate density ($Σ_{\rm SFR}$) reveals that the CALIFA sources present higher values when compared with normal star-forming galaxies. The strength of this relation depends on the calibrator used to estimate the SFR. This excess in $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ is significant within the first effective radius supporting the idea that most outflows are driven by processes in the inner regions of a galaxy. We find that the molecular gas mass density ($Σ_\mathrm{gas}$) is a key parameter that plays an important role in the generation of outflows through its association with the local SFR. The canonical threshold reported for the generation of outflows -- $Σ_{\rm SFR}>0.1$ $\mathrm{M}_\odot \mathrm{yr}^{-1} \mathrm{kpc}^{-2}$ -- is only marginally exceeded in our sample. Within the Kennicutt-Schmidt diagram we propose a domain for galaxies hosting starburst-driven outflows defined by $Σ_{\rm SFR}>10^{-2} \,\mathrm{M}_\odot \mathrm{yr}^{-1} \mathrm{kpc}^{-2}$ and $Σ_\mathrm{gas}>10^{1.2} \, \mathrm{M}_\odot \mathrm{pc}^{-2}$ within a central kiloparcec region.

25 pages, 16 figues, accepted for publishing in MNRAS