Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userSuperBoRG: Search for The Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies and Quasars in HST Parallel Imaging Data
80
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
T. Morishita
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has been providing tremendous survey efficiency via its pure-parallel mode, by observing another field in parallel with the primary instrument in operation for the primary observation. In this study, we present a new archival project, SuperBoRG, which aims at compiling data taken in extragalactic parallel programs of HST with WFC3 in the past decade; including pure-parallel (BoRG, HIPPIES, and COS-GTO) and coordinated-parallel (CLASH and RELICS) programs. The total effective area reaches $sim0.41$deg$^2$ from 4.1Msec, or 47days, of observing time, which is the largest collection of optical-NIR imaging data of HST for extragalactic science. We reduce all data in a consistent manner with an updated version of our data reduction pipeline. When available, infrared imaging data from the Spitzer Space Telescope are included in photometric analyses. The dataset consists of 316 independent sightlines and is highly effective for identification of high-$z$ luminous sources ($M_mathrm{UV}<-21$mag) at $zsim7$ to $12$, helping to minimize the effects of cosmic variance. As a demonstration, we present three new $z>7$ source candidates, including one luminous galaxy candidate at $z_mathrm{phot}sim10.4$ with $M_mathrm{UV}sim-21.9$ mag; for this object the best-fit spectral energy distribution implies a large amount of stellar mass ($log M_*/M_odot sim 10$) and moderate dust attenuation ($A_V sim 1.4$mag), though the possibility of it being a low-$z$ interloper cannot completely be rejected ($sim23%$) with the current dataset. The dataset presented in this study is also suited for intermediate and low-$z$ science cases.
rate research
Read More
To extend the search for quasars in the epoch of reionization beyond the tip of the luminosity function, we explore point source candidates at redshift $zsim8$ in SuperBoRG, a compilation of $sim$0.4deg$^2$ archival medium-deep ($m_{rm F160W}sim 26.5$ABmag, 5$sigma$) parallel IR images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Initial candidates are selected by using the Lyman-break technique. We then carefully analyze source morphology, and robustly identify 3 point sources at $zsim8$. Photometric redshift analysis reveals that they are preferentially fit by extra-galactic templates, and we conclude that they are unlikely to be low-$z$ interlopers, including brown dwarfs. A clear IRAC ch2 flux excess is seen in one of the point sources, which is expected if the source has strong H$beta$+[O III] emission with rest-frame equivalent width of $sim3000$AA. Deep spectroscopic data taken with Keck/MOSFIRE, however, do not reveal Ly$alpha$ emission from the object. In combination with the estimated H$beta$+[O III] equivalent width, we place an upper limit on its Ly$alpha$ escape fraction $f_{rm esc, Lyalpha}< 2 %$. We estimate the number density of these point sources $sim1times10^{-6}$Mpc$^{-3}$mag$^{-1}$ at $M_{rm UV}sim-23$mag. The final interpretation of our results remains inconclusive: extrapolation from low-$z$ studies of $faint$ quasars suggests that $>100times$ survey volume may be required to find one of this luminosity. The James Webb Space Telescope will be able to conclusively determine the nature of our luminous point source candidates, while the Roman Space Telescope will probe $sim 200$ times the area of the sky with the same observing time considered in this HST study.
Until now, investigating the early stages of galaxy formation has been primarily the realm of theoretical modeling and computer simulations, which require many physical ingredients and are challenging to test observationally. However, the latest Hubble Space Telescope observations in the near infrared are shedding new light on the properties of galaxies within the first billion years after the Big Bang, including our recent discovery of the most distant proto-cluster of galaxies at redshift z~8. Here, I compare predictions from models of primordial and metal-enriched star formation during the dark ages with the latest Hubble observations of galaxies during the epoch of reionization. I focus in particular on the luminosity function and on galaxy clustering as measured from our Hubble Space Telescope Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) survey. BoRG has the largest area coverage to find luminous and rare z~8 sources that are among the first galaxies to have formed in the Universe.
The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) enabled the search for the first galaxies observed at z ~ 8 - 11 (500 - 700 Myr after the Big Bang). To continue quantifying the number density of the most luminous galaxies (M_AB ~ -22.0) at the earliest epoch observable with HST, we search for z ~ 10 galaxies (F125W-dropouts) in archival data from the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG[z8]) survey, originally designed for detection of z ~ 8 galaxies (F098M-dropouts). By focusing on the deepest 293 arcmin^2 of the data along 62 independent lines of sight, we identify six z ~ 10 candidates satisfying the color selection criteria, detected at S/N > 8 in F160W with M_AB = -22.8 to -21.1 if at z = 10. Three of the six sources, including the two brightest, are in a single WFC3 pointing (~ 4 arcmin^2), suggestive of significant clustering, which is expected from bright galaxies at z ~ 10. However, the two brightest galaxies are too extended to be likely at z ~ 10, and one additional source is unresolved and possibly a brown dwarf. The remaining three candidates have m_AB ~ 26, and given the area and completeness of our search, our best estimate is a number density of sources that is marginally higher but consistent at 2{sigma} with searches in legacy fields. Our study highlights that z ~ 10 searches can yield a small number of candidates, making tailored follow-ups of HST pure-parallel observations viable and effective.
We present the first results on the search for very bright (M_AB -21) galaxies at redshift z~8 from the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) survey. BoRG is a Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 pure-parallel survey that is obtaining images on random lines of sight at high Galactic latitudes in four filters (F606W, F098M, F125W, F160W), with integration times optimized to identify galaxies at z>7.5 as F098M-dropouts. We discuss here results from a search area of approximately 130 arcmin^2 over 23 BoRG fields, complemented by six other pure-parallel WFC3 fields with similar filters. This new search area is more than two times wider than previous WFC3 observations at z~8. We identify four F098M-dropout candidates with high statistical confidence (detected at greater than 8sigma confidence in F125W). These sources are among the brightest candidates currently known at z~8 and approximately ten times brighter than the z=8.56 galaxy UDFy-38135539. They thus represent ideal targets for spectroscopic followup observations and could potentially lead to a redshift record, as our color selection includes objects up to z~9. However, the expected contamination rate of our sample is about 30% higher than typical searches for dropout galaxies in legacy fields, such as the GOODS and HUDF, where deeper data and additional optical filters are available to reject contaminants.
We present new HST WFPC3 imaging of four gravitationally lensed quasars: MG 0414+0534; RXJ 0911+0551; B 1422+231; WFI J2026-4536. In three of these systems we detect wavelength-dependent microlensing, which we use to place constraints on the sizes and temperature profiles of the accretion discs in each quasar. Accretion disc radius is assumed to vary with wavelength according to the power-law relationship $rpropto lambda^p$, equivalent to a radial temperature profile of $Tpropto r^{-1/p}$. The goal of this work is to search for deviations from standard thin disc theory, which predicts that radius goes as wavelength to the power $p=4/3$. We find a wide range of power-law indices, from $p=1.4^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$ in B 1422+231 to $p=2.3^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$ in WFI J2026-4536. The measured value of $p$ appears to correlate with the strength of the wavelength-dependent microlensing. We explore this issue with mock simulations using a fixed accretion disc with $p=1.5$, and find that cases where wavelength-dependent microlensing is small tend to under-estimate the value of $p$. This casts doubt on previous ensemble single-epoch measurements which have favoured low values using samples of lensed quasars that display only moderate chromatic effects. Using only our systems with strong chromatic microlensing we prefer $p>4/3$, corresponding to shallower temperature profiles than expected from standard thin disc theory.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
