No Arabic abstract
We take advantage of gravitational lensing amplification by Abell 1689 (z=0.187) to undertake the first space-based census of emission line galaxies (ELGs) in the field of a massive lensing cluster. Forty-three ELGs are identified to a flux of i_775=27.3 via slitless grism spectroscopy. One ELG (at z=0.7895) is very bright owing to lensing magnification by a factor of ~4.5. Several Balmer emission lines detected from ground-based follow-up spectroscopy signal the onset of a major starburst for this low-mass galaxy (M_* = 2 x 10^9 solar masses) with a high specific star formation rate (~20 /Gyr). From the blue emission lines we measure a gas-phase oxygen abundance consistent with solar (12+log(O/H)=8.8 +/- 0.2). We break the continuous line-emitting region of this giant arc into seven ~1kpc bins (intrinsic size) and measure a variety of metallicity dependent line ratios. A weak trend of increasing metal fraction is seen toward the dynamical center of the galaxy. Interestingly, the metal line ratios in a region offset from the center by ~1kpc have a placement on the blue HII region excitation diagram with f([OIII])/f(Hbeta) and f([NeIII])/f(Hbeta) that can be fit by an AGN. This asymmetrical AGN-like behavior is interpreted as a product of shocks in the direction of the galaxys extended tail, possibly instigated by a recent galaxy interaction.
We present a novel Bayesian methodology to jointly model photometry and deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) 2d grism spectroscopy of high-redshift galaxies. Our requiem2d code measures both unresolved and resolved stellar populations, ages, and star-formation histories (SFHs) for the ongoing REQIUEM (REsolving QUIEscent Magnified) Galaxies Survey, which targets strong gravitationally lensed quiescent galaxies at z~2. We test the accuracy of texttt{requiem2d} using a simulated sample of massive galaxies at z~2 from the Illustris cosmological simulation and find we recover the general trends in SFH and median stellar ages. We further present a pilot study for the REQUIEM Galaxies Survey: MRG-S0851, a quintuply-imaged, massive ($log M_* / M_odot = 11.02 pm 0.04$) red galaxy at $z=1.883pm 0.001$. With an estimated gravitational magnification of $mu = 5.7^{+0.4}_{-0.2}$, we sample the stellar populations on 0.6 kpc physical size bins. The global mass-weighted median age is constrained to be $1.8_{-0.2}^{+0.3}$ Gyr, and our spatially resolved analysis reveals that MRG-S0851 has a flat age gradient in the inner 3 kpc core after taking into account the subtle effects of dust and metallicity on age measurements, favoring an early formation scenario. The analysis for the full REQUIEM-2D sample will be presented in a forthcoming paper with a beta-release of the requiem2d code.
We present deep spectroscopic observations of a Lyman-break galaxy candidate (hereafter MACS1149-JD) at $zsim9.5$ with the $textit{Hubble}$ Space Telescope ($textit{HST}$) WFC3/IR grisms. The grism observations were taken at 4 distinct position angles, totaling 34 orbits with the G141 grism, although only 19 of the orbits are relatively uncontaminated along the trace of MACS1149-JD. We fit a 3-parameter ($z$, F160W mag, and Ly$alpha$ equivalent width) Lyman-break galaxy template to the three least contaminated grism position angles using an MCMC approach. The grism data alone are best fit with a redshift of $z_{mathrm{grism}}=9.53^{+0.39}_{-0.60}$ ($68%$ confidence), in good agreement with our photometric estimate of $z_{mathrm{phot}}=9.51^{+0.06}_{-0.12}$ ($68%$ confidence). Our analysis rules out Lyman-alpha emission from MACS1149-JD above a $3sigma$ equivalent width of 21 AA{}, consistent with a highly neutral IGM. We explore a scenario where the red $textit{Spitzer}$/IRAC $[3.6] - [4.5]$ color of the galaxy previously pointed out in the literature is due to strong rest-frame optical emission lines from a very young stellar population rather than a 4000 AA{} break. We find that while this can provide an explanation for the observed IRAC color, it requires a lower redshift ($zlesssim9.1$), which is less preferred by the $textit{HST}$ imaging data. The grism data are consistent with both scenarios, indicating that the red IRAC color can still be explained by a 4000 AA{} break, characteristic of a relatively evolved stellar population. In this interpretation, the photometry indicate that a $340^{+29}_{-35}$ Myr stellar population is already present in this galaxy only $sim500~mathrm{Myr}$ after the Big Bang.
We report the detection of extended Lyman-$alpha$ emission from the host galaxy of SDSS~J2222+2745, a strongly lensed quasar at $z = 2.8$. Spectroscopic follow-up clearly reveals extended Lyman-$alpha$ in emission between two images of the central active galactic nucleus (AGN). We reconstruct the lensed quasar host galaxy in the source plane by applying a strong lens model to HST imaging, and resolve spatial scales as small as $sim$200 parsecs. In the source plane we recover the host galaxy morphology to within a few hundred parsecs of the central AGN, and map the extended Lyman-$alpha$ emission to its physical origin on one side of the host galaxy at radii $sim$0.5-2 kpc from the central AGN. There are clear morphological differences between the Lyman-$alpha$ and rest-frame ultraviolet stellar continuum emission from the quasar host galaxy. Furthermore, the relative velocity profiles of quasar Lyman-$alpha$, host galaxy Lyman-$alpha$, and metal lines in outflowing gas reveal differences in the absorbing material affecting the AGN and host galaxy. These data indicate the presence of patchy local intervening gas in front of the central quasar and its host galaxy. This interpretation is consistent with the central luminous quasar being obscured across a substantial fraction of its surrounding solid angle, resulting in strong anisotropy in the exposure of the host galaxy to ionizing radiation from the AGN. This work demonstrates the power of strong lensing-assisted studies to probe spatial scales that are currently inaccessible by other means.
We present observations of a luminous galaxy at redshift z=6.573 --- the end of the reioinization epoch --- which has been spectroscopically confirmed twice. The first spectroscopic confirmation comes from slitless HST ACS grism spectra from the PEARS survey (Probing Evolution And Reionization Spectroscopically), which show a dramatic continuum break in the spectrum at restframe 1216 A wavelength. The second confirmation is done with Keck + DEIMOS. The continuum is not clearly detected with ground-based spectra, but high wavelength resolution enables the Lyman alpha emission line profile to be determined. We compare the line profile to composite line profiles at redshift z=4.5. The Lyman alpha line profile shows no signature of a damping wing attenuation, confirming that the intergalactic gas is ionized at redshift z=6.57. Spectra of Lyman breaks at yet higher redshifts will be possible using comparably deep observations with IR-sensitive grisms, even at redshifts where Lyman alpha is too attenuated by the neutral IGM to be detectable using traditional spectroscopy from the ground.
By combining HST imaging with optical (VIMOS) and near-infrared (SINFONI) integral field spectroscopy we exploit the gravitational potential of a massive, rich cluster at z=0.9 to study the internal properties of a gravitationally lensed galaxy at z=4.88. Using a detailed gravitational lens model of the cluster RCS0224-002 we reconstruct the source-frame morphology of the lensed galaxy on 200pc scales and find an ~L* Lyman-break galaxy with an intrinsic size of only 2.0x0.8kpc, a velocity gradient of <60km/s and an implied dynamical mass of 1.0x10^10Mo within 2kpc. We infer an integrated star-formation rate of just 12+/-2Mo/yr from the intrinsic [OII] emission line flux. The Ly-alpha emission appears redshifted by +200+/-40km/s with respect to the [OII] emission. The Ly-alpha is also significantly more extended than the nebular emission, extending over 11.9x2.4kpc. Over this area, the Ly-alpha centroid varies by less than 10km/s. By examining the spatially resolved structure of the [OII] and asymmetric Ly-alpha emission lines we investigate the nature of this system. The model for local starburst galaxies suggested by Mass-Hesse et al. (2003) provides a good description of our data, and suggests that the galaxy is surrounded by a galactic-scale bi-polar outflow which has recently burst out of the system. The outflow, which appears to be currently located >30kpc from the galaxy, is escaping at a speed of upto ~500km/s. Although the mass of the outflow is uncertain, the geometry and velocity of the outflow suggests that the ejected material is travelling far faster than escape velocity and will travel more than 1Mpc (comoving) before eventually stalling.