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Register a new userSpectroscopic Confirmation of an Ultra Massive and Compact Galaxy at z=3.35: A Detailed Look at an Early Progenitor of Local Most Massive Ellipticals
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We present the first spectroscopic confirmation of an ultra-massive galaxy at redshift z>3 using data from Keck-NIRSPEC, VLT-Xshooter, and GTC-Osiris. We detect strong [OIII] and Ly$alpha$ emission, and weak [OII], CIV, and HeII, placing C1-23152 at a spectroscopic redshift of $z_{spec}$=3.351. The modeling of the emission-line corrected spectral energy distribution results in a best-fit stellar mass of $M_{*}=3.1^{+0.6}_{-0.7}times10^{11} M_{odot}$, a star-formation rate of <7 $M_{odot} yr^{-1}$, and negligible dust extinction. The stars appear to have formed in a short intense burst ~300-500 Myr prior to the observation epoch, setting the formation redshift of this galaxy at z~4.1. From the analysis of the line ratios and widths, and the observed flux at 24$mu$m, we confirm the presence of a luminous hidden active galactic nucleus (AGN), with bolometric luminosity of ~$10^{46}erg s^{-1}$. Potential contamination to the observed SED from the AGN continuum is constrained, placing a lower limit on the stellar mass of $2times10^{11} M_{odot}$. HST/WFC3 $H_{160}$ and ACS $I_{814}$ images are modeled, resulting in an effective radius of $r_{e}$~1 kpc in the $H_{160}$ band and a Sersic index n~4.4. This object may be a prototype of the progenitors of local most massive elliptical galaxies in the first 2 Gyr of cosmic history, having formed most of its stars at z>4 in a highly dissipative, intense, and short burst of star formation. C1-23152 is completing its transition to a post-starburst phase while hosting a powerful AGN, potentially responsible for the quenching of the star formation activity.
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Recent simulations and observations of massive galaxy cluster evolution predict that the majority of stellar mass build up happens within cluster members by $z=2$, before cluster virialization. Protoclusters rich with dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at $z>3$ are the favored candidate progenitors for these massive galaxy clusters at $zsim0$. We present here the first study analyzing stellar emission along with cold dust and gas continuum emission in a spectroscopically confirmed $z=4.002$ protocluster core rich with DSFGs, the Distant Red Core (DRC). We combine new HST and Spitzer data with existing Gemini, Herschel, and ALMA observations to derive individual galaxy-level properties, and compare them to coeval field and other protocluster galaxies. All of the protocluster members are massive ($>10^{10}$ M$_odot$), but not significantly more so than their coeval field counterparts. Within uncertainty, all are nearly indistinguishable from galaxies on the star-forming vs. stellar mass main-sequence relationship, and on the star formation efficiency plane. Assuming no future major influx of fresh gas, we estimate that these gaseous DSFGs will deplete their gas reservoirs in $sim300$ Myr, becoming the massive quiescent ellipticals dominating cluster cores by $zsim3$. Using various methodologies, we derive a total $z=4$ halo mass of $sim10^{14}$ M$_odot$, and estimate that the DRC will evolve to become an ultra-massive cluster core of mass $gtrsim10^{15}$ M$_odot$ by $z=0$.
Within one billion years of the Big Bang, intergalactic hydrogen was ionized by sources emitting ultraviolet and higher energy photons. This was the final phenomenon to globally affect all the baryons (visible matter) in the Universe. It is referred to as cosmic reionization and is an integral component of cosmology. It is broadly expected that intrinsically faint galaxies were the primary ionizing sources due to their abundance in this epoch. However, at the highest redshifts ($z>7.5$; lookback time 13.1 Gyr), all galaxies with spectroscopic confirmations to date are intrinsically bright and, therefore, not necessarily representative of the general population. Here, we report the unequivocal spectroscopic detection of a low luminosity galaxy at $z>7.5$. We detected the Lyman-$alpha$ emission line at $sim 10504$ {AA} in two separate observations with MOSFIRE on the Keck I Telescope and independently with the Hubble Space Telescopes slit-less grism spectrograph, implying a source redshift of $z = 7.640 pm 0.001$. The galaxy is gravitationally magnified by the massive galaxy cluster MACS J1423.8+2404 ($z = 0.545$), with an estimated intrinsic luminosity of $M_{AB} = -19.6 pm 0.2$ mag and a stellar mass of $M_{star} = 3.0^{+1.5}_{-0.8} times 10^8$ solar masses. Both are an order of magnitude lower than the four other Lyman-$alpha$ emitters currently known at $z > 7.5$, making it probably the most distant representative source of reionization found to date.
We report the spectroscopic confirmation of a new protocluster in the COSMOS field at $z$ $sim$ 2.2, COSMOS Cluster 2.2 (CC2.2), originally identified as an overdensity of narrowband selected H$alpha$ emitting candidates. With only two masks of Keck/MOSFIRE near-IR spectroscopy in both $H$ ($sim$ 1.47-1.81 $mu$m) and $K$ ($sim$ 1.92-2.40 $mu$m) bands ($sim$ 1.5 hour each), we confirm 35 unique protocluster members with at least two emission lines detected with S/N $>$ 3. Combined with 12 extra members from the zCOSMOS-deep spectroscopic survey (47 in total), we estimate a mean redshift and a line-of-sight velocity dispersion of $z_{mean}$=2.23224 $pm$ 0.00101 and $sigma_{los}$=645 $pm$ 69 km s$^{-1}$ for this protocluster, respectively. Assuming virialization and spherical symmetry for the system, we estimate a total mass of $M_{vir}$ $sim$ $(1-2) times$10$^{14}$ $M_{odot}$ for the structure. We evaluate a number density enhancement of $delta_{g}$ $sim$ 7 for this system and we argue that the structure is likely not fully virialized at $z$ $sim$ 2.2. However, in a spherical collapse model, $delta_{g}$ is expected to grow to a linear matter enhancement of $sim$ 1.9 by $z$=0, exceeding the collapse threshold of 1.69, and leading to a fully collapsed and virialized Coma-type structure with a total mass of $M_{dyn}$($z$=0) $sim$ 9.2$times$10$^{14}$ $M_{odot}$ by now. This observationally efficient confirmation suggests that large narrowband emission-line galaxy surveys, when combined with ancillary photometric data, can be used to effectively trace the large-scale structure and protoclusters at a time when they are mostly dominated by star-forming galaxies.
We present spectroscopic confirmation of two new massive galaxy protoclusters at $z=2.24pm0.02$, BOSS1244 and BOSS1542, traced by groups of Coherently Strong Ly$alpha$ Absorption (CoSLA) systems imprinted in the absorption spectra of a number of quasars from the SDSS III and identified as overdensities of narrowband-selected H$alpha$ emitters (HAEs). Using MMT/MMIRS and LBT/LUCI near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, we confirm 46 and 36 HAEs in the BOSS1244 and BOSS1542 fields, respectively. BOSS1244 displays a South-West (SW) component at $z=2.230pm0.002$ and another North-East (NE) component at $z=2.246pm0.001$ with the line-of-sight velocity dispersions of $405pm202$ km s$^{-1}$ and $377pm99$ km s$^{-1}$, respectively. Interestingly, we find that the SW region of BOSS1244 contains two substructures in redshift space, likely merging to form a larger system. In contrast, BOSS1542 exhibits an extended filamentary structure with a low velocity dispersion of $247pm32$ km s$^{-1}$ at $z=2.241pm0.001$, providing a direct confirmation of a large-scale cosmic web in the early Universe. The galaxy overdensities $delta_{rm g}$ on the scale of 15 cMpc are $22.9pm4.9$, $10.9pm2.5$, and $20.5pm3.9$ for the BOSS1244 SW, BOSS1244 NE, and BOSS1542 filament, respectively. They are the most overdense galaxy protoclusters ($delta_{rm g}>20$) discovered to date at $z>2$. These systems are expected to become virialized at $zsim0$ with a total mass of $M_{rm SW}=(1.59pm0.20)times10^{15}$ $M_{odot}$, $M_{rm NE} =(0.83pm0.11)times10^{15}$ $M_{odot}$ and $M_{rm filament}=(1.42pm0.18)times10^{15}$ $M_{odot}$, respectively. Together with BOSS1441 described in Cai et al. (2017a), these extremely massive overdensities at $z=2-3$ exhibit different morphologies, indicating that they are in different assembly stages in the formation of early galaxy clusters.
We present ALMA observations at 107.291 GHz (band 3) and 214.532 GHz (band 6) of GMASS 0953, a star-forming galaxy at z=2.226 hosting an obscured AGN that has been proposed as a progenitor of compact quiescent galaxies (QG). We measure for the first time the size of the dust and molecular gas emission of GMASS 0953 that we find to be extremely compact ($sim$1 kpc). This result, coupled with a very high ISM density (n$sim$10$^{5.5}$ cm$^{-3}$), a low gas mass fraction ($sim$0.2) and a short gas depletion timescale ($sim$150 Myr) imply that GMASS 0953 is experiencing an episode of intense star-formation in its central region that will rapidly exhaust its gas reservoirs, likely aided by AGN-induced feedback, confirming its fate as a compact QG. Kinematic analysis of the CO(6-5) line shows evidence of rapidly-rotating gas ($V_{rot}$=320$^{+92}_{-53}$ km s$^{-1}$), as observed also in a handful of similar sources at the same redshift. On-going quenching mechanisms could either destroy the rotation or leave it intact leading the galaxy to evolve into a rotating QG.
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