ALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization
The [C ii ] _158 _μ _m line has long been proposed as a promising line to spectroscopically confirm galaxies in the epoch of reionization. In this paper, we present the results of new ALMA observations spectral scanning for [C ii ] in six particularly luminous Lyman-break galaxies at z ∼ 7. The six...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ace10c |
| _version_ | 1797694451174342656 |
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| author | Sander Schouws Rychard Bouwens Renske Smit Jacqueline Hodge Mauro Stefanon Joris Witstok Juliëtte Hilhorst Ivo Labbé Hiddo Algera Leindert Boogaard Michael Maseda Pascal Oesch Huub Röttgering Paul van der Werf |
| author_facet | Sander Schouws Rychard Bouwens Renske Smit Jacqueline Hodge Mauro Stefanon Joris Witstok Juliëtte Hilhorst Ivo Labbé Hiddo Algera Leindert Boogaard Michael Maseda Pascal Oesch Huub Röttgering Paul van der Werf |
| author_sort | Sander Schouws |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The [C ii ] _158 _μ _m line has long been proposed as a promising line to spectroscopically confirm galaxies in the epoch of reionization. In this paper, we present the results of new ALMA observations spectral scanning for [C ii ] in six particularly luminous Lyman-break galaxies at z ∼ 7. The six sources were drawn from a sample of bright z ∼ 7 galaxies identified using the wide-area optical, near-IR, and Spitzer/IRAC data over the COSMOS/UltraVISTA field and were targeted on the basis of tight constraints on their redshifts from their IRAC [3.6]–[4.5] colors. We detect significant (>9 σ ) [C ii ] lines in three of our six targets (50%) cospatial with the rest-UV emission from the ground/space-based near-IR imaging. The luminosities of the [C ii ] lines lie in the range 5.6–8.8 × 10 ^8 L _⊙ , consistent with the local [C ii ]–SFR relation. Meanwhile, their [C ii ]/ L _IR ∼ 1–3 × 10 ^−3 ratios are slightly elevated compared to local ( U )LIRGS. This could be due to lower dust-to-gas or dust-to-metal ratios. We also find that our sources display a large kinematic diversity, with one source showing signs of rotation, one source a likely major merger, and one dispersion-dominated source that might contain a bright star-forming clump. Our results highlight the effectiveness of spectral scans with ALMA in spectroscopically confirming luminous galaxies in the epoch of reionization, something that is being be applied on a significantly larger sample in the ongoing REBELS large program. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:58:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-851aab6317a6458a91e122db08a3f861 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:58:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-851aab6317a6458a91e122db08a3f8612023-09-03T15:08:37ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-01954110310.3847/1538-4357/ace10cALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of ReionizationSander Schouws0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9746-0924Rychard Bouwens1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4989-2471Renske Smit2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8034-7802Jacqueline Hodge3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6586-8845Mauro Stefanon4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7768-5309Joris Witstok5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7595-121XJuliëtte Hilhorst6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5919-2295Ivo Labbé7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2057-5376Hiddo Algera8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4205-9567Leindert Boogaard9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3952-8588Michael Maseda10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0695-4414Pascal Oesch11https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5851-6649Huub Röttgering12https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8887-2257Paul van der Werf13https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5434-5942Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsLeiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsAstrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UKLeiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsLeiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsKavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UKLeiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsCentre for Astrophysics and SuperComputing, Swinburne, University of Technology , Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122, AustraliaHiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University , 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, JapanMax Planck Institute for Astronomy , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, GermanyDepartment of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison , 475 N. Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 USADepartement dAstronomie, Université de Genéeve , 51 Ch. des Maillettes, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland; International Associate, Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen and DTU-Space , Technical University of Denmark, DenmarkLeiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsLeiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsThe [C ii ] _158 _μ _m line has long been proposed as a promising line to spectroscopically confirm galaxies in the epoch of reionization. In this paper, we present the results of new ALMA observations spectral scanning for [C ii ] in six particularly luminous Lyman-break galaxies at z ∼ 7. The six sources were drawn from a sample of bright z ∼ 7 galaxies identified using the wide-area optical, near-IR, and Spitzer/IRAC data over the COSMOS/UltraVISTA field and were targeted on the basis of tight constraints on their redshifts from their IRAC [3.6]–[4.5] colors. We detect significant (>9 σ ) [C ii ] lines in three of our six targets (50%) cospatial with the rest-UV emission from the ground/space-based near-IR imaging. The luminosities of the [C ii ] lines lie in the range 5.6–8.8 × 10 ^8 L _⊙ , consistent with the local [C ii ]–SFR relation. Meanwhile, their [C ii ]/ L _IR ∼ 1–3 × 10 ^−3 ratios are slightly elevated compared to local ( U )LIRGS. This could be due to lower dust-to-gas or dust-to-metal ratios. We also find that our sources display a large kinematic diversity, with one source showing signs of rotation, one source a likely major merger, and one dispersion-dominated source that might contain a bright star-forming clump. Our results highlight the effectiveness of spectral scans with ALMA in spectroscopically confirming luminous galaxies in the epoch of reionization, something that is being be applied on a significantly larger sample in the ongoing REBELS large program.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ace10cGalaxy evolutionGalaxy formationGalaxy kinematicsLyman-break galaxiesInterstellar medium |
| spellingShingle | Sander Schouws Rychard Bouwens Renske Smit Jacqueline Hodge Mauro Stefanon Joris Witstok Juliëtte Hilhorst Ivo Labbé Hiddo Algera Leindert Boogaard Michael Maseda Pascal Oesch Huub Röttgering Paul van der Werf ALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization The Astrophysical Journal Galaxy evolution Galaxy formation Galaxy kinematics Lyman-break galaxies Interstellar medium |
| title | ALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization |
| title_full | ALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization |
| title_fullStr | ALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization |
| title_full_unstemmed | ALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization |
| title_short | ALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization |
| title_sort | alma as a redshift machine using c ii to efficiently confirm galaxies in the epoch of reionization |
| topic | Galaxy evolution Galaxy formation Galaxy kinematics Lyman-break galaxies Interstellar medium |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ace10c |
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