Witnessing the onset of stellar winds in Super-Luminous Supernova Hosts: implications for star-formation-driven outflows in low and high-redshift galaxies

Abstract

Direct observational constraints on the earliest, stellar-wind-dominated phases of galactic outflows remain scarce. We present medium-resolution VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy of six Type I superluminous supernova (SLSN-I) host galaxies at z = 0.15-0.51, exploiting the bright SLSN continua as single, down-the-barrel probes of the host interstellar medium. From nebular emission lines we derive dust-corrected star-formation rates as low as 0.06-0.44 Msun yr$^{-1}$, and gas-phase metallicities in the extremely metal-poor regime (less than nine percent solar). Moreover, all hosts exhibit narrow, blueshifted Mg II 2796, 2803 absorption, indicative of the presence of low-ionization outflows along the line of sight. Voigt modeling of the Mg II absorption yields maximum outflow velocities of $v_{max}$ = 37-104 km s$^{-1}$, placing these galaxies systematically below the empirical $v_{max}$-SFR relations for more evolved galaxies of similar SFR. Given the short lifetimes of the SLSN massive progenitors, we argue that these outflows must originate from preceding stellar wind episodes. Assuming a constant-velocity outflow over 3 Myr and spherical symmetry, we infer wind masses M$_{wind}$ = (0.02-1.0) $\times 10^6$ Msun and mass-outflow rates $\dot{M}_{wind} = 0.01-0.33$ Msun yr$^{-1}$, corresponding to mass-loading factors $\eta<1$. These results indicate that, during the first few Myr of a burst, stellar winds and radiation pressure alone drive slow and weak outflows in low-mass systems, prior to the onset of dominant supernova feedback. Our work provides one of the first empirical constraints on early feedback phases relevant for high-redshift galaxies, and for time-dependent implementations of stellar feedback in galaxy formation simulations.