We present a large spectroscopic campaign with Keck/MOSFIRE targeting Lyman-alpha emission (Ly$alpha$) from intrinsically faint Lyman-break Galaxies (LBGs) behind 12 efficient galaxy cluster lenses. Gravitational lensing allows us to probe the more a
bundant faint galaxy population to sensitive Ly$alpha$ equivalent width limits. During the campaign we targeted 70 LBG candidates with MOSFIRE Y-band, selected photometrically to cover Ly$alpha$ over the range $7<z<8.2$. We detect $S/N>5$ emission lines in 2 of these galaxies and find that they are likely Ly$alpha$ at $z=7.148pm0.001$ and $z=7.161pm0.001$. We present new lens models for 4 of the galaxy clusters, using our previously published lens models for the remaining clusters to determine the magnification factors for the source galaxies. Using a Bayesian framework that employs large scale reionization simulations of the intergalactic medium (IGM) as well as realistic properties of the interstellar medium and circumgalactic medium, we infer the volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fraction, $overline{x}_{mathrm{HI}}$, in the IGM during reionization to be $overline{x}_{mathrm{HI}}=0.88^{+0.05}_{-0.10}$ at $z=7.6pm0.6$. Our result is consistent with a late and rapid reionization scenario inferred by Planck.
We present a new gravitational lens model of the Hubble Frontier Fields cluster Abell 370 ($z = 0.375$) using imaging and spectroscopy from Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based spectroscopy. We combine constraints from a catalog of 1344 weakly len
sed galaxies and 39 multiply-imaged sources comprised of 114 multiple images, including a system of multiply-imaged candidates at $z=7.93 pm 0.02$, to obtain a best-fit mass distribution using the cluster lens modeling code Strong and Weak Lensing United. As the only analysis of A370 using strong and weak lensing constraints from Hubble Frontier Fields data, our method provides an independent check on assumptions in other methods on the mass distribution. Convergence, shear, and magnification maps are made publicly available through the HFF website. We find that the model we produce is similar to models produced by other groups, with some exceptions due to the differences in lensing code methodology. In an effort to study how our total projected mass distribution traces light, we measure the stellar mass density distribution using Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera imaging. Comparing our total mass density to our stellar mass density in a radius of 0.3 Mpc, we find a mean projected stellar to total mass ratio of $langle f* rangle = 0.011 pm 0.003$ (stat.) using the diet Salpeter initial mass function. This value is in general agreement with independent measurements of $langle f* rangle$ in clusters of similar total mass and redshift.
We present deep spectroscopic observations of a Lyman-break galaxy candidate (hereafter MACS1149-JD) at $zsim9.5$ with the $textit{Hubble}$ Space Telescope ($textit{HST}$) WFC3/IR grisms. The grism observations were taken at 4 distinct position angle
s, totaling 34 orbits with the G141 grism, although only 19 of the orbits are relatively uncontaminated along the trace of MACS1149-JD. We fit a 3-parameter ($z$, F160W mag, and Ly$alpha$ equivalent width) Lyman-break galaxy template to the three least contaminated grism position angles using an MCMC approach. The grism data alone are best fit with a redshift of $z_{mathrm{grism}}=9.53^{+0.39}_{-0.60}$ ($68%$ confidence), in good agreement with our photometric estimate of $z_{mathrm{phot}}=9.51^{+0.06}_{-0.12}$ ($68%$ confidence). Our analysis rules out Lyman-alpha emission from MACS1149-JD above a $3sigma$ equivalent width of 21 AA{}, consistent with a highly neutral IGM. We explore a scenario where the red $textit{Spitzer}$/IRAC $[3.6] - [4.5]$ color of the galaxy previously pointed out in the literature is due to strong rest-frame optical emission lines from a very young stellar population rather than a 4000 AA{} break. We find that while this can provide an explanation for the observed IRAC color, it requires a lower redshift ($zlesssim9.1$), which is less preferred by the $textit{HST}$ imaging data. The grism data are consistent with both scenarios, indicating that the red IRAC color can still be explained by a 4000 AA{} break, characteristic of a relatively evolved stellar population. In this interpretation, the photometry indicate that a $340^{+29}_{-35}$ Myr stellar population is already present in this galaxy only $sim500~mathrm{Myr}$ after the Big Bang.
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.
