Spatial Correlation Between Dust and H$\alpha$ Emission in Dwarf Irregular Galaxies

Abstract

Using a sample of dwarf irregular galaxies selected from the ALFALFA blind HI-survey and observed using the VIMOS IFU, we investigate the relationship between H$\alpha$ emission and Balmer optical depth ($\tau_{\text{b}}$). We find a positive correlation between H$\alpha$ luminosity surface density and Balmer optical depth in 8 of 11 at $\geq$ 0.8$\sigma$ significance (6 of 11 at $\geq$ 1.0$\sigma$) galaxies. Our spaxels have physical scales ranging from 30 to 80 pc, demonstrating that the correlation between these two variables continues to hold down to spatial scales as low as 30 pc. Using the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient to test for correlation between $\Sigma_{\text{H}\alpha}$ and $\tau_{\text{b}}$ in all the galaxies combined, we find $\rho = 0.39$, indicating a positive correlation at 4$\sigma$ significance. Our low stellar-mass galaxy results are in agreement with observations of emission line regions in larger spiral galaxies, indicating that this relationship is independent of the size of the galaxy hosting the emission line region. The positive correlation between H$\alpha$ luminosity and Balmer optical depth within spaxels is consistent with the hypothesis that young star-forming regions are surrounded by dusty birth-clouds.