No Arabic abstract
We present spatially resolved analysis of a lensed galaxy, SDSS1958+5950 at $z = 2.225$, from the Cambridge Sloan Survey of Wide Arcs in the Sky (CASSOWARY). We use our new high resolution imaging data to construct a robust lens model for the galaxy group at $z = 0.214$. We employ the updated lens model to combine the Integral Field Spectrographic observations on two highly distorted images of the lensed target. We adopt a forward-modeling approach to deconvolve the effects of point spread function from the combined source-plane reconstruction. The approach is adapted to the lens model magnification and enables a resolution of $sim$170 pc in the galaxy-source plane. We propose an ongoing merger as the origin of the lensed system on the basis of its source-plane morphology, kinematics and rest-frame emission line ratios. Using our novel technique of adaptive coadded source plane reconstruction, we are able to detect different components in the velocity gradient that were not seen in previous studies of this object, plausibly belonging to different components in the merging system.
Gravitationally lensed systems allow a detailed view of galaxies at high redshift. High spatial- and spectral-resolution measurements of arc-like structures can offer unique constraints on the physical and dynamical properties of high-z systems. We present near-infrared spectra centred on the gravitational arcs of six known z ~ 2 lensed star-forming galaxies of stellar masses of 10^9-10^11 Msun and star formation rate (SFR) in the range between 10 and 400 Msun/yr. Ground layer adaptive optics (AO)-assisted observations are obtained at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) with the LUCI spectrographs during the commissioning of the ARGOS facility. We used MOS masks with curved slits to follow the extended arched structures and study the diagnostic emission lines. Combining spatially resolved kinematic properties across the arc-like morphologies, emission line diagnostics and archival information, we distinguish between merging and rotationally supported systems, and reveal the possible presence of ejected gas. For galaxies that have evidence for outflows, we derive outflow energetics and mass-loading factors compatible with those observed for stellar winds in local and high-z galaxies. We also use flux ratio diagnostics to derive gas-phase metallicities. The low signal-to-noise ratio in the faint H$beta$ and nitrogen lines allows us to derive an upper limit of ~ 0.15 dex for the spatial variations in metallicity along the slit for the lensed galaxy J1038. Analysed near-infrared spectra presented here represent the first scientific demonstration of performing AO-assisted multi-object spectroscopy with narrow curved-shape slits. The increased angular and spectral resolution, combined with the binocular operation mode with the 8.4-m-wide eyes of LBT, will allow the characterisation of kinematic and chemical properties of a large sample of galaxies at high-z in the near future.
We present a pixelized source reconstruction method applied on Integral Field Spectroscopic (IFS) observations of gravitationally lensed galaxies. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this method in a case study on the clumpy morphology of a $z sim 2$ lensed galaxy behind a group-scale lens. We use a Bayesian forward source modelling approach to reconstruct the surface brightness distribution of the source galaxy on a uniformly pixelized grid while accounting for the image point spread function (PSF). The pixelated approach is sensitive to clump sizes down to 100 pc and resolves smaller clump sizes with an improvement in the signal to noise ratio (SNR) by almost a factor of ten compared with more traditional ray-tracing approaches.
Using the combined resolving power of the Hubble Space Telescope and gravitational lensing, we resolve star-forming structures in a z~2.5 galaxy on scales much smaller than the usual kiloparsec diffraction limit of HST. SGAS J111020.0+645950.8 is a clumpy, star forming galaxy lensed by the galaxy cluster SDSS J1110+6459 at z = 0.659, with a total magnification ~30x across the entire arc. We use a hybrid parametric/non-parametric strong lensing mass model to compute the deflection and magnification of this giant arc, reconstruct the light distribution of the lensed galaxy in the source plane, and resolve the star formation into two dozen clumps. We develop a forward-modeling technique to model each clump in the source plane. We ray trace the model to the image plane, convolve with the instrumental point spread function (PSF), and compare with the GALFIT model of the clumps in the image plane, which decomposes clump structure from more extended emission. This technique has the advantage, over ray tracing, by accounting for the asymmetric lensing shear of the galaxy in the image plane and the instrument PSF. At this resolution, we can begin to study star formation on a clump-by-clump basis, toward the goal of understanding feedback mechanisms and the buildup of exponential disks at high redshift.
We present spatially-resolved properties of molecular gas and dust in a gravitationally-lensed submillimeter galaxy H-ATLAS J090311.6+003906 (SDP.81) at $z=3.042$ revealed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We identified 14 molecular clumps in the CO(5-4) line data, all with a spatial scale of $sim$50-300 pc in the source plane. The surface density of molecular gas ($Sigma_{rm H_2}$) and star-formation rate ($Sigma_{rm SFR}$) of the clumps are more than three orders of magnitude higher than those found in local spiral galaxies. The clumps are placed in the `burst sequence in the $Sigma_{rm H_2}$-$Sigma_{rm SFR}$ plane, suggesting that $z sim 3$ molecular clumps follow the star-formation law derived for local starburst galaxies. With our gravitational lens model, the positions in the source plane are derived for the molecular clumps, dust clumps, and stellar components identified in the {sl Hubble Space Telescope} image. The molecular and dust clumps coexist in a similar region over $sim$2 kpc, while the stellar components are offset at most by $sim$5 kpc. The molecular clumps have a systematic velocity gradient in the north-south direction, which may indicate a rotating gas disk. One possible scenario is that the components of molecular gas, dust, and stars are distributed in a several-kpc scale rotating disk, and the stellar emission is heavily obscured by dust in the central star-forming region. Alternatively, SDP.81 can be explained by a merging system, where dusty starbursts occur in the region where the two galaxies collide, surrounded by tidal features traced in the stellar components.
We measure the ionizing photon production efficiency ($xi_{ion}$) of low-mass galaxies ($10^{7.8}$-$10^{9.8}$ $M_{odot}$) at $1.4<z<2.7$, allowing us to better understand the contribution of dwarf galaxies to the ionizing background and cosmic reionization. We target galaxies that are magnified by the strong lensing galaxy clusters Abell 1689, MACS J0717, and MACS J1149. We utilize Keck/MOSFIRE spectra to measure optical nebular emission line fluxes and HST imaging to measure the rest-UV and rest-optical photometry. We present two methods of stacking. First, we take the average of the log(L$_{Halpha}$ /L$_{UV}$) of galaxies in our sample to determine the typical log($xi_{ion}$). Second, we take the logarithm of the total L$_{Halpha}$ over the total L$_{UV}$. We prefer the latter as it provides the total ionizing UV luminosity density of galaxies when multiplied by the non-ionizing UV luminosity density from the UV luminosity function. log($xi_{ion}$) calculated from the second method is $sim$ 0.2 dex higher than the first method. We do not find any strong dependence between log($xi_{ion}$) and stellar mass, M$_{UV}$ or UV spectral slope ($beta$). We report a value of log($xi_{ion}$) $sim25.47pm 0.09$ for our UV-complete sample ($-22<M_{UV}<-17.3$) and $sim25.37pm0.11$ for our mass-complete sample ($7.8<log(M_*)<9.8)$. These values are consistent with measurements of more massive, more luminous galaxies in other high-redshift studies that use the same stacking technique. Our log($xi_{ion}$) is $0.2-0.3$ dex higher than low-redshift galaxies of similar mass, indicating an evolution in the stellar properties, possibly due to metallicity, age, or the prevalence of binary stars. We also find a correlation between log($xi_{ion}$) and the equivalent widths of H$alpha$ and [OIII]$lambda$5007 fluxes, confirming that these equivalent widths can be used to estimate $xi_{ion}$.