A High Space Density of Luminous Lyα Emitters at z ∼ 6.5

Micaela B. Bagley; Claudia Scarlata; Alaina Henry; Marc Rafelski; Matthew Malkan; Harry Teplitz; Y. Sophia Dai; Ivano Baronchelli; James Colbert; Michael Rutkowski; Vihang Mehta; Alan Dressler; Patrick McCarthy; Andrew Bunker; Hakim Atek; Thibault Garel; Crystal L. Martin; Nimish Hathi; Brian Siana

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/837/1/11

A High Space Density of Luminous Lyα Emitters at z ∼ 6.5

Micaela B. Bagley, Claudia Scarlata, Alaina Henry, Marc Rafelski, Matthew Malkan, Harry Teplitz, Y. Sophia Dai, Ivano Baronchelli, James Colbert, Michael Rutkowski, Vihang Mehta, Alan Dressler, Patrick McCarthy, Andrew Bunker, Hakim Atek, Thibault Garel, Crystal L. Martin, Nimish Hathi, Brian Siana

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Abstract

We present the results of a systematic search for Lyα emitters (LAEs) at 6 ≲ z ≲ 7.6 using the HST WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) Survey. Our total volume over this redshift range is ∼8 × 10⁵ Mpc³, comparable to many of the narrowband surveys despite their larger area coverage. We find two LAEs at z = 6.38 and 6.44 with line luminosities of L_Lyα ∼ 4.7 × 10⁴³ erg s^-1, putting them among the brightest LAEs discovered at these redshifts. Taking advantage of the broad spectral coverage of WISP, we are able to rule out almost all lower-redshift contaminants. The WISP LAEs have a high number density of 7.7 × 10^-6 Mpc^-3. We argue that the LAEs reside in megaparsec-scale ionized bubbles that allow the Lyα photons to redshift out of resonance before encountering the neutral intergalactic medium. We discuss possible ionizing sources and conclude that the observed LAEs alone are not sufficient to ionize the bubbles.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	11
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	837
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/837/1/11
State	Published - Mar 1 2017

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© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Keywords

cosmology: observations
galaxies: high-redshift

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Bagley, M. B., Scarlata, C., Henry, A., Rafelski, M., Malkan, M., Teplitz, H., Dai, Y. S., Baronchelli, I., Colbert, J., Rutkowski, M., Mehta, V., Dressler, A., McCarthy, P., Bunker, A., Atek, H., Garel, T., Martin, C. L., Hathi, N., & Siana, B. (2017). A High Space Density of Luminous Lyα Emitters at z ∼ 6.5. Astrophysical Journal, 837(1), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/837/1/11

Bagley, MB, Scarlata, C, Henry, A, Rafelski, M, Malkan, M, Teplitz, H, Dai, YS, Baronchelli, I, Colbert, J, Rutkowski, M, Mehta, V, Dressler, A, McCarthy, P, Bunker, A, Atek, H, Garel, T, Martin, CL, Hathi, N & Siana, B 2017, 'A High Space Density of Luminous Lyα Emitters at z ∼ 6.5', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 837, no. 1, 11. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/837/1/11

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abstract = "We present the results of a systematic search for Lyα emitters (LAEs) at 6 ≲ z ≲ 7.6 using the HST WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) Survey. Our total volume over this redshift range is ∼8 × 105 Mpc3, comparable to many of the narrowband surveys despite their larger area coverage. We find two LAEs at z = 6.38 and 6.44 with line luminosities of LLyα ∼ 4.7 × 1043 erg s-1, putting them among the brightest LAEs discovered at these redshifts. Taking advantage of the broad spectral coverage of WISP, we are able to rule out almost all lower-redshift contaminants. The WISP LAEs have a high number density of 7.7 × 10-6 Mpc-3. We argue that the LAEs reside in megaparsec-scale ionized bubbles that allow the Lyα photons to redshift out of resonance before encountering the neutral intergalactic medium. We discuss possible ionizing sources and conclude that the observed LAEs alone are not sufficient to ionize the bubbles.",

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AU - Henry, Alaina

AU - Rafelski, Marc

AU - Malkan, Matthew

AU - Teplitz, Harry

AU - Dai, Y. Sophia

AU - Baronchelli, Ivano

AU - Colbert, James

AU - Rutkowski, Michael

AU - Mehta, Vihang

AU - Dressler, Alan

AU - McCarthy, Patrick

AU - Bunker, Andrew

AU - Atek, Hakim

AU - Garel, Thibault

AU - Martin, Crystal L.

AU - Hathi, Nimish

AU - Siana, Brian

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N2 - We present the results of a systematic search for Lyα emitters (LAEs) at 6 ≲ z ≲ 7.6 using the HST WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) Survey. Our total volume over this redshift range is ∼8 × 105 Mpc3, comparable to many of the narrowband surveys despite their larger area coverage. We find two LAEs at z = 6.38 and 6.44 with line luminosities of LLyα ∼ 4.7 × 1043 erg s-1, putting them among the brightest LAEs discovered at these redshifts. Taking advantage of the broad spectral coverage of WISP, we are able to rule out almost all lower-redshift contaminants. The WISP LAEs have a high number density of 7.7 × 10-6 Mpc-3. We argue that the LAEs reside in megaparsec-scale ionized bubbles that allow the Lyα photons to redshift out of resonance before encountering the neutral intergalactic medium. We discuss possible ionizing sources and conclude that the observed LAEs alone are not sufficient to ionize the bubbles.

AB - We present the results of a systematic search for Lyα emitters (LAEs) at 6 ≲ z ≲ 7.6 using the HST WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) Survey. Our total volume over this redshift range is ∼8 × 105 Mpc3, comparable to many of the narrowband surveys despite their larger area coverage. We find two LAEs at z = 6.38 and 6.44 with line luminosities of LLyα ∼ 4.7 × 1043 erg s-1, putting them among the brightest LAEs discovered at these redshifts. Taking advantage of the broad spectral coverage of WISP, we are able to rule out almost all lower-redshift contaminants. The WISP LAEs have a high number density of 7.7 × 10-6 Mpc-3. We argue that the LAEs reside in megaparsec-scale ionized bubbles that allow the Lyα photons to redshift out of resonance before encountering the neutral intergalactic medium. We discuss possible ionizing sources and conclude that the observed LAEs alone are not sufficient to ionize the bubbles.

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A High Space Density of Luminous Lyα Emitters at z ∼ 6.5

Abstract

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Keywords

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