No Arabic abstract
We present an overview and the first data release of ZFIRE, a spectroscopic redshift survey of star-forming galaxies that utilizes the MOSFIRE instrument on Keck-I to study galaxy properties in rich environments at $1.5<z<2.5$. ZFIRE measures accurate spectroscopic redshifts and basic galaxy properties derived from multiple emission lines. The galaxies are selected from a stellar mass limited sample based on deep near infra-red imaging ($mathrm{K_{AB}<25}$) and precise photometric redshifts from the ZFOURGE and UKIDSS surveys as well as grism redshifts from 3DHST. Between 2013--2015 ZFIRE has observed the COSMOS and UDS legacy fields over 13 nights and has obtained 211 galaxy redshifts over $1.57<z<2.66$ from a combination of nebular emission lines (such as Halpha, NII, Hbeta, OII, OIII, SII) observed at 1--2micron. Based on our medium-band NIR photometry, we are able to spectrophotometrically flux calibrate our spectra to around10% accuracy. ZFIRE reaches $5sigma$ emission line flux limits of around$mathrm{3times10^{-18}~erg/s/cm^2}$ with a resolving power of $R=3500$ and reaches masses down to around10$^{9}$msol. We confirm that the primary input survey, ZFOURGE, has produced photometric redshifts for star-forming galaxies (including highly attenuated ones) accurate to $Delta z/(1+zmathrm{_{spec})}=0.015$ with $0.7%$ outliers. We measure a slight redshift bias of $<0.001$, and we note that the redshift bias tends to be larger at higher masses. We also examine the role of redshift on the derivation of rest-frame colours and stellar population parameters from SED fitting techniques. The ZFIRE survey extends spectroscopically-confirmed $zsim 2$ samples across a richer range of environments, here we make available the first public release of the data for use by the community.footnote{url{http://zfire.swinburne.edu.au}}
We present the spectroscopic confirmation of a galaxy cluster at $z=2.095$ in the COSMOS field. This galaxy cluster was first reported in the ZFOURGE survey as harboring evolved massive galaxies using photometric redshifts derived with deep near-infrared (NIR) medium-band filters. We obtain medium resolution ($R sim$ 3600) NIR spectroscopy with MOSFIRE on the Keck 1 telescope and secure 180 redshifts in a $12times12$ region. We find a prominent spike of 57 galaxies at $z=2.095$ corresponding to the galaxy cluster. The cluster velocity dispersion is measured to be $sigma_{rm v1D}$ = 552 $pm$ 52 km/s. This is the first study of a galaxy cluster in this redshift range ($z gt 2.0$) with the combination of spectral resolution ($sim$26 km/s) and the number of confirmed members (${>}50$) needed to impose a meaningful constraint on the cluster velocity dispersion and map its members over a large field of view. Our $Lambda$CDM cosmological simulation suggests that this cluster will most likely evolve into a Virgo-like cluster with ${rm M_{vir}}{=}10^{14.4pm0.3} {rm M_odot}$ ($68%$ confidence) at $zsim$ 0. The theoretical expectation of finding such a cluster is $sim$ $4%$. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of studying galaxy clusters at $z > 2$ in the same detailed manner using multi-object NIR spectrographs as has been done in the optical in lower redshift clusters.
We present a spectroscopic redshift measurement of a very bright Lyman break galaxy at z=7.7302+-0.0006 using Keck/MOSFIRE. The source was pre-selected photometrically in the EGS field as a robust z~8 candidate with H=25.0 mag based on optical non-detections and a very red Spitzer/IRAC [3.6]-[4.5] broad-band color driven by high equivalent width [OIII]+Hbeta line emission. The Lyalpha line is reliably detected at 6.1 sigma and shows an asymmetric profile as expected for a galaxy embedded in a relatively neutral inter-galactic medium near the Planck peak of cosmic reionization. The line has a rest-frame equivalent width of EW0=21+-4 A and is extended with V_FWHM=360+90-70 km/s. The source is perhaps the brightest and most massive z~8 Lyman break galaxy in the full CANDELS and BoRG/HIPPIES surveys, having assembled already 10^(9.9+-0.2) M_sol of stars at only 650 Myr after the Big Bang. The spectroscopic redshift measurement sets a new redshift record for galaxies. This enables reliable constraints on the stellar mass, star-formation rate, formation epoch, as well as combined [OIII]+Hbeta line equivalent widths. The redshift confirms that the IRAC [4.5] photometry is very likely dominated by line emission with EW0(OIII+Hbeta)= 720-150+180 A. This detection thus adds to the evidence that extreme rest-frame optical emission lines are a ubiquitous feature of early galaxies promising very efficient spectroscopic follow-up in the future with infrared spectroscopy using JWST and, later, ELTs.
We present Keck-I MOSFIRE near-infrared spectroscopy for a sample of 13 compact star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at redshift $2leq z leq2.5$ with star formation rates of SFR$sim$100M$_{odot}$ y$^{-1}$ and masses of log(M/M$_{odot}$)$sim10.8$. Their high integrated gas velocity dispersions of $sigma_{rm{int}}$=230$^{+40}_{-30}$ km s$^{-1}$, as measured from emission lines of H$_{alpha}$ and [OIII], and the resultant M$_{star}-sigma_{rm{int}}$ relation and M$_{star}$$-$M$_{rm{dyn}}$ all match well to those of compact quiescent galaxies at $zsim2$, as measured from stellar absorption lines. Since log(M$_{star}$/M$_{rm{dyn}}$)$=-0.06pm0.2$ dex, these compact SFGs appear to be dynamically relaxed and more evolved, i.e., more depleted in gas and dark matter ($<$13$^{+17}_{-13}$%) than their non-compact SFG counterparts at the same epoch. Without infusion of external gas, depletion timescales are short, less than $sim$300 Myr. This discovery adds another link to our new dynamical chain of evidence that compact SFGs at $zgtrsim2$ are already losing gas to become the immediate progenitors of compact quiescent galaxies by $zsim2$.
We perform a kinematic analysis of galaxies at $zsim2$ in the COSMOS legacy field using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy from Keck/MOSFIRE as part of the ZFIRE survey. Our sample consists of 75 Ks-band selected star-forming galaxies from the ZFOURGE survey with stellar masses ranging from log(M$_{star}$/M$_{odot}$)$=9.0-11.0$, 28 of which are members of a known overdensity at $z=2.095$. We measure H$alpha$ emission-line integrated velocity dispersions ($sigma_{rm int}$) from 50$-$230 km s$^{-1}$, consistent with other emission-line studies of $zsim2$ field galaxies. From these data we estimate virial, stellar, and gas masses and derive correlations between these properties for cluster and field galaxies at $zsim2$. We find evidence that baryons dominate within the central effective radius. However, we find no statistically significant differences between the cluster and the field, and conclude that the kinematics of star-forming galaxies at $zsim2$ are not significantly different between the cluster and field environments.
We present the Team Keck Redshift Survey 2 (TKRS2), a near-infrared spectral observing program targeting selected galaxies within the CANDELS subsection of the GOODS-North Field. The TKRS2 program exploits the unique capabilities of MOSFIRE, an infrared multi-object spectrometer which entered service on the Keck I telescope in 2012 and contributes substantially to the study of galaxy spectral features at redshifts inaccessible to optical spectrographs. The TKRS2 project targets 97 galaxies drawn from samples that include z~2 emission-line galaxies with features observable in the JHK bands as well as lower-redshift targets with features in the Y band. We present a detailed measurement of MOSFIREs sensitivity as a function of wavelength, including the effects of telluric features across the YJHK filters. The largest utility of our survey is in providing rest-frame-optical emission lines for z>1 galaxies, and we demonstrate that the ratios of strong, optical emission lines of z~2 galaxies suggest the presence of either higher N/O abundances than are found in z~0 galaxies or low-metallicity gas ionized by an active galactic nucleus. We have released all TKRS2 data products into the public domain to allow researchers access to representative raw and reduced MOSFIRE spectra.