No Arabic abstract
MS$,$0451.6$-$0305 is a rich galaxy cluster whose strong lensing is particularly prominent at submm wavelengths. We combine new SCUBA-2 data with imaging from Herschel SPIRE and PACS and HST in order to try to understand the nature of the sources being lensed. In the region of the giant submm arc, we uncover seven multiply imaged galaxies (up from the previously known three), of which six are found to be at a redshift of $zsim2.9$, and possibly constitute an interacting system. Using a novel forward-modelling approach, we are able to simultaneously deblend and fit SEDs to the individual galaxies that contribute to the giant submm arc, constraining their dust temperatures, far infrared luminosities and star formation rates. The submm arc first identified by SCUBA can now be seen to be composed of at least five distinct sources, four of these within the galaxy group at $zsim2.9$. The total unlensed luminosity for this galaxy group is $(3.1pm0.3) times 10^{12},mathrm{L}_odot$, which gives an unlensed star formation rate of $(450pm50)$ M$_odot$ yr$^{-1}$. From the properties of this system, we see no evidence of evolution towards lower temperatures in the dust temperature versus far-infrared luminosity relation for high redshift galaxies.
Most molecular gas studies of $z > 2.5$ galaxies are of intrinsically bright objects, despite the galaxy population being primarily normal galaxies with less extreme star formation rates. Observations of normal galaxies at high redshift provide a more representative view of galaxy evolution and star formation, but such observations are challenging to obtain. In this work, we present ALMA $rm ^{12}CO(J = 3 rightarrow 2)$ observations of a sub-millimeter selected galaxy group at $z = 2.9$, resulting in spectroscopic confirmation of seven images from four member galaxies. These galaxies are strongly lensed by the MS 0451.6-0305 foreground cluster at $z = 0.55$, allowing us to probe the molecular gas content on levels of $rm 10^9-10^{10} ; M_odot$. Four detected galaxies have molecular gas masses of $rm (0.2-13.1) times 10^{10} ; M_odot$, and the non-detected galaxies have inferred molecular gas masses of $rm < 8.0 times 10^{10} ; M_odot$. We compare these new data to a compilation of 546 galaxies up to $z = 5.3$, and find that depletion times decrease with increasing redshift. We then compare the depletion times of galaxies in overdense environments to the field scaling relation from the literature, and find that the depletion time evolution is steeper for galaxies in overdense environments than for those in the field. More molecular gas measurements of normal galaxies in overdense environments at higher redshifts ($z > 2.5$) are needed to verify the environmental dependence of star formation and gas depletion.
We present a new SCUBA image of the cluster MS0451.6-0305, which exhibits strong, extended sub-mm flux at 850 microns. The most striking feature in the map is an elongated region of bright sub-mm emission, with a flux density of >10 mJy over several beam-sizes. This region is apparently coincident with a previously known optical arc (which turns out to be a strongly lensed Lyman Break Galaxy at z=2.911), as well as with a newly identified multiply-imaged ERO (Extremely Red Object) pair predicted to be at a similar, if not identical redshift. By combing a detailed lensing model with deep images from HST, Chandra, CFHT, JCMT, and spectra from the VLT, we conclude that both the strongly lensed optical arc and ERO systems have properties consistent with known sub-mm emitters. Using a simple model for the two sources, we estimate that the multiply-lensed EROs contribute the majority of the flux in the SCUBA lensed arc. Correcting for the lensing amplification, we estimate that the inherent 850 micron fluxes for both objects are ~0.4 mJy. If the LBG and ERO pair are truly at the same redshift, then they are separated by only ~10 kpc in the source plane, and hence constitute an interacting system at z~2.9. Higher angular resolution observations in sub-mm/mm will permit us to more accurately separate the contribution from each candidate, and better understand the nature of this system.
We have assembled a sample of 5 X-ray and submm-luminous z~2 QSOs which are therefore both growing their central black holes through accretion and forming stars copiously at a critical epoch. Hence, they are good laboratories to investigate the co-evolution of star formation and AGN. We have performed a preliminary analysis of the AGN and SF contributions to their UV-to-FIR SEDs, fitting them with simple direct (disk), reprocessed (torus) and star formation components. All three are required by the data and hence we confirm that these objects are undergoing strong star formation in their host galaxies at rates 500-2000 Msun/y. Estimates of their covering factors are between about 30 and 90%. In the future, we will assess the dependence of these results on the particular models used for the components and relate their observed properties to the intrinsice of the central engine and the SF material, as well as their relevance for AGN-galaxy coevolution.
We present Keck II NIRSPEC rest-frame optical spectra for three recently discovered lensed galaxies: the Cosmic Horseshoe (z = 2.38), the Clone (z = 2.00), and SDSS J090122.37+181432.3 (z = 2.26). The boost in signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) from gravitational lensing provides an unusually detailed view of the physical conditions in these objects. A full complement of high S/N rest-frame optical emission lines is measured, spanning from rest-frame 3600 to 6800AA, including robust detections of fainter lines such as H-gamma, [SII]6717,6732, and in one instance [NeII]3869. SDSS J090122.37+181432.3 shows evidence for AGN activity, and therefore we focus our analysis on star-forming regions in the Cosmic Horseshoe and the Clone. For these two objects, we estimate a wide range of physical properties, including star-formation rate (SFR), metallicity, dynamical mass, and dust extinction. In all respects, the lensed objects appear fairly typical of UV-selected star-forming galaxies at z~2. The Clone occupies a position on the emission-line diagnostic diagram of [OIII]/H-beta vs. [NII]/H-alpha that is offset from the locations of z~0 galaxies. Our new NIRSPEC measurements may provide quantitative insights into why high-redshift objects display such properties. From the [SII] line ratio, high electron densities (~1000 cm^(-3)) are inferred compared to local galaxies, and [OIII]/[OII] line ratios indicate higher ionization parameters compared to the local population. Building on previous similar results at z~2, these measurements provide further evidence (at high S/N) that star-forming regions are significantly different in high-redshift galaxies, compared to their local counterparts (abridged).
We present a comprehensive analysis of the rest-frame UV to near-IR spectral energy distributions and rest-frame optical spectra of four of the brightest gravitationally lensed galaxies in the literature: RCSGA 032727-132609 at z=1.70, MS1512-cB58 at z=2.73, SGAS J152745.1+065219 at z=2.76 and SGAS J122651.3+215220 at z=2.92. This includes new Spitzer imaging for RCSGA0327 as well as new spectra, near-IR imaging and Spitzer imaging for SGAS1527 and SGAS1226. Lensing magnifications of 3-4 magnitudes allow a detailed study of the stellar populations and physical conditions. We compare star formation rates as measured from the SED fit, the H-alpha and [OII] emission lines, and the UV+IR bolometric luminosity where 24 micron photometry is available. The SFR estimate from the SED fit is consistently higher than the other indicators, which suggests that the Calzetti dust extinction law used in the SED fitting is too flat for young star-forming galaxies at z~2. Our analysis finds similar stellar population parameters for all four lensed galaxies: stellar masses 3-7*10^9 M_sun, young ages ~ 100 Myr, little dust content E(B-V)=0.10-0.25, and star formation rates around 20-100 M_sun/yr. Compared to typical values for the galaxy population at z~2, this suggests we are looking at newly formed, starbursting systems that have only recently started the build-up of stellar mass. These results constitute the first detailed, uniform analysis of a sample of the growing number of strongly lensed galaxies known at z~2.