UV Spectral Slope and Nebular Dust Attenuation in Dwarf Galaxies at 1.4 z < 2.6

Abstract We analyze nebular dust attenuation and its correlation with stellar mass ( M * ) and ultraviolet (UV) spectral slope ( β ) in 33 lensed, low-mass star-forming galaxies at 1.4 ≤ z ≤ 2.6, using Keck/Multi-Object Spectrometer For IR Exploration (MOSFIRE) rest-frame optical spectroscopy. Located behind three massive lensing galaxy clusters A1689, MACS J1149.5+2223, and MACS J0717.5+3745, galaxies in our sample have a median stellar mass of log ( M * / M ⊙ ) = 8.3 and an intrinsic UV absolute magnitude range of −20.9 log ( M * / M ⊙ ) ∼ 7 . We demonstrate that this relation does not notably evolve with redshift and is consistent with what has been observed for local Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies at similar low stellar masses.