Metallicities of Emission-Line Galaxies from HST ACS PEARS and HST WFC3
  ERS Grism Spectroscopy at 0.6 < z < 2.4
  Galaxies selected on the basis of their emission line strength show low
metallicities, regardless of their redshifts. We conclude this from a sample of
faint galaxies at redshifts between 0.6 < z < 2.4, selected by their prominent
emission lines in low-resolution grism spectra in the optical with the Advanced
Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and in the
near-infrared using Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Using a sample of 11 emission
line galaxies (ELGs) at 0.6 < z < 2.4 with luminosities of -22 < M_B < -19,
which have [OII], H\beta, and [OIII] line flux measurements from the
combination of two grism spectral surveys, we use the R23 method to derive the
gas-phase oxygen abundances: 7.5 < 12+log(O/H) < 8.5. The galaxy stellar masses
are derived using Bayesian based Markov Chain Monte Carlo (\piMC^2) fitting of
their Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), and span the mass range 8.1 <
log(M_*/M_\sun) < 10.1. These galaxies show a mass-metallicity (M-L) and
Luminosity-Metallicity (L-Z) relation, which is offset by --0.6 dex in
metallicity at given absolute magnitude and stellar mass relative to the local
SDSS galaxies, as well as continuum selected DEEP2 samples at similar
redshifts. The emission-line selected galaxies most resemble the local "green
peas" galaxies and Lyman-alpha galaxies at z~0.3 and z~2.3 in the M-Z and L-Z
relations and their morphologies. The G-M_{20} morphology analysis shows that
10 out of 11 show disturbed morphology, even as the star-forming regions are
compact. These galaxies may be intrinsically metal poor, being at early stages
of formation, or the low metallicities may be due to gas infall and accretion
due to mergers.
