1,217 research outputs found
The Dearth of z~10 Galaxies in all HST Legacy Fields -- The Rapid Evolution of the Galaxy Population in the First 500 Myr
We present an analysis of all prime HST legacy fields spanning >800 arcmin^2
for the search of z~10 galaxy candidates and the study of their UV luminosity
function (LF). In particular, we present new z~10 candidates selected from the
full Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) dataset. Despite the addition of these new
fields, we find a low abundance of z~10 candidates with only 9 reliable sources
identified in all prime HST datasets that include the HUDF09/12, the HUDF/XDF,
all the CANDELS fields, and now the HFF survey. Based on this comprehensive
search, we find that the UV luminosity function decreases by one order of
magnitude from z~8 to z~10 at all luminosities over a four magnitude range.
This also implies a decrease of the cosmic star-formation rate density by an
order of magnitude within 170 Myr from z~8 to z~10. We show that this
accelerated evolution compared to lower redshift can entirely be explained by
the fast build-up of the dark matter halo mass function at z>8. Consequently,
the predicted UV LFs from several models of galaxy formation are in good
agreement with this observed trend, even though the measured UV LF lies at the
low end of model predictions. In particular, the number of only 9 observed
candidate galaxies is lower, by ~50%, than predicted by galaxy evolution
models. The difference is generally still consistent within the Poisson and
cosmic variance uncertainties. However, essentially all models predict larger
numbers than observed. We discuss the implications of these results in light of
the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope mission, which is poised to find much
larger samples of z~10 galaxies as well as their progenitors at less than 400
Myr after the Big Bang.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, minor updates to match accepted versio
UV Luminosity Functions from 132 z~7 and z~8 Lyman-Break Galaxies in the ultra-deep HUDF09 and wide-area ERS WFC3/IR Observations
We identify 73 z~7 and 59 z~8 candidate galaxies in the reionization epoch,
and use this large 26-29.4 AB mag sample of galaxies to derive very deep
luminosity functions to <-18 AB mag and the star formation rate density at z~7
and z~8. The galaxy sample is derived using a sophisticated Lyman-Break
technique on the full two-year WFC3/IR and ACS data available over the HUDF09
(~29.4 AB mag, 5 sigma), two nearby HUDF09 fields (~29 AB mag, 14 arcmin) and
the wider area ERS (~27.5 AB mag) ~40 arcmin**2). The application of strict
optical non-detection criteria ensures the contamination fraction is kept low
(just ~7% in the HUDF). This very low value includes a full assessment of the
contamination from lower redshift sources, photometric scatter, AGN, spurious
sources, low mass stars, and transients (e.g., SNe). From careful modelling of
the selection volumes for each of our search fields we derive luminosity
functions for galaxies at z~7 and z~8 to <-18 AB mag. The faint-end slopes
alpha at z~7 and z~8 are uncertain but very steep at alpha = -2.01+/-0.21 and
alpha=-1.91+/-0.32, respectively. Such steep slopes contrast to the local
alpha<~-1.4 and may even be steeper than that at z~4 where alpha=-1.73+/-0.05.
With such steep slopes (alpha<~-1.7) lower luminosity galaxies dominate the
galaxy luminosity density during the epoch of reionization. The star formation
rate densities derived from these new z~7 and z~8 luminosity functions are
consistent with the trends found at later times (lower redshifts). We find
reasonable consistency, with the SFR densities implied from reported stellar
mass densities, being only ~40% higher at z<7. This suggests that (1) the
stellar mass densities inferred from the Spitzer IRAC photometry are reasonably
accurate and (2) that the IMF at very high redshift may not be very different
from that at later times.Comment: 38 pages, 21 figures, 20 tables, ApJ, accepted for publicatio
Rest-Frame Optical Emission Lines in z~3.5 Lyman Break selected Galaxies: The Ubiquity of Unusually High [OIII]/Hbeta Ratios at 2 Gyr
We present K-band spectra of rest-frame optical emission lines for 24
star-forming galaxies at z~3.2-3.7 using MOSFIRE on the Keck 1 telescope.
Strong rest-frame optical [O III] and Hbeta emission lines were detected in 18
LBGs. The median flux ratio of [O III]5007 to Hbeta is 5.1+/-0.5, a factor of
5-10x higher than in local galaxies with similar stellar masses. The observed
Hbeta luminosities are in good agreement with expectations from the estimated
star-formation rates, and none of our sources are detected in deep X-ray
stacks, ruling out significant contamination by active galactic nuclei.
Combining our sample with a variety of LBGs from the literature, including 49
galaxies selected in a very similar manner, we find a high median ratio of
[OIII]/Hbeta = 4.8+0.8-1.7. This high ratio seems to be an ubiquitous feature
of z~3-4 LBGs, very different from typical local star-forming galaxies at
similar stellar masses. The only comparable systems at z~0 are those with
similarly high specific star-formation rates, though ~5x lower stellar masses.
High specific star-formation rates either result in a much higher ionization
parameter or other unusual conditions for the interstellar medium, which result
in a much higher [OIII]/Hbeta line ratio. This implies a strong relation
between a global property of a galaxy, the specific star-formation rate, and
the local conditions of ISM in star-forming regions.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 5 color, published in ApJ, updated to reflect
published versio
A Rest-frame Optical View on z~4 Galaxies I: Color and Age Distributions from Deep IRAC Photometry of the IUDF10 and GOODS Surveys
We present a study of rest-frame UV-to-optical color distributions for z~4
galaxies based on the combination of deep HST/ACS+WFC3/IR data with
Spitzer/IRAC imaging. In particular, we use new, ultra-deep data from the IRAC
Ultradeep Field program (IUDF10). Our sample contains a total of ~2600 galaxies
selected as B-dropout Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) in the HUDF and one of its
deep parallel fields, the HUDF09-2, as well as GOODS-North and South. This
sample is used to investigate the UV continuum slopes beta and Balmer break
colors (J_125-[4.5]) as a function of rest-frame optical luminosity. The [4.5]
filter is chosen to avoid potential contamination by strong rest-frame optical
emission lines. We find that galaxies at M_z<-21.5 (roughly corresponding to
L*[z~4]) are significantly redder than their lower luminosity counterparts. The
UV continuum slopes and the J_125-[4.5] colors are well correlated. The most
simple explanation for this correlation is that the dust reddening at these
redshifts is better described by an SMC-like extinction curve, rather than the
typically assumed Calzetti reddening. After correcting for dust, we find that
the galaxy population shows mean stellar population ages in the range 10^8.5 to
10^9 yr, with a dispersion of ~0.5 dex, and only weak trends as a function of
luminosity. In contrast to some results from the literature, we find that only
a small fraction of galaxies shows Balmer break colors which are consistent
with extremely young ages, younger than 100 Myr. Under the assumption of smooth
star-formation histories, this fraction is only 12-19% for galaxies at
M_z<-19.75. Our results are consistent with a gradual build-up of stars and
dust in galaxies at z>4, with only a small fraction of stars being formed in
short, intense bursts of star-formation.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures; submitted to Ap
- …