The Lockman Hole project: gas and galaxy properties from a stacking experiment

We perform an H I stacking analysis to study the relation between H I content and optical/radio/IR properties of galaxies located in the Lockman Hole area. In the redshift range covered by the observations (up to z = 0.09), we use the SDSS to separate galaxies with different optical characteristics, and we exploit the deep L-band radio continuum image (with noise 11 μJy beam-1) to identify galaxies with radio continuum emission. Infrared properties are extracted from the Spitzer catalog. We detect H I in blue galaxies, but H I is also detected in the group of red galaxies – albeit with smaller amounts than for the blue sample. We identify a group of optically inactive galaxies with early-type morphology that does not reveal any H I and ionized gas. These inactive galaxies likely represent the genuine red and dead galaxies depleted of all gas. Unlike inactive galaxies, H I is detected in red LINER-like objects. Galaxies with radio continuum counterparts mostly belong to the sub-mJy population, whose objects are thought to be a mixture of star-forming galaxies and low-power AGNs. After using several AGN diagnostics, we conclude that the radio emission in the majority of our sub-mJy radio sources stems from star formation. LINERs appear to separate into two groups based on IR properties and H I content. LINERs with a 24 μm detection show relatively large amounts of H I and are also often detected in radio continuum as a result of ongoing star formation. The LINER galaxies which are not detected at 24 μm are more like the optically inactive galaxies by being depleted of H I gas and having no sign of star formation. Radio LINERs in the latter group are the best candidates for hosting low-luminosity radio AGN.