The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) grism PEARS (Probing Evolution And Reionization Spectroscopically) survey provides a large dataset of low-resolution spectra from ...thousands of galaxies in the GOODS North and South fields. One important subset of objects in these data are emission-line galaxies (ELGs), and we have investigated several different methods aimed at systematically selecting these galaxies. Here we present a new methodology and results of a search for these ELGs in the PEARS observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) using a 2D detection method that utilizes the observation that many emission lines originate from clumpy knots within galaxies. This 2D line-finding method proves to be useful in detecting emission lines from compact knots within galaxies that might not otherwise be detected using more traditional 1D line-finding techniques. We find in total 96 emission lines in the HUDF, originating from 81 distinct "knots'' within 63 individual galaxies. We find in general that OIII emitters are the most common, comprising 44% of the sample, and on average have high equivalent widths (70% of OIII emitters having rest-frame EW>100A). There are 12 galaxies with multiple emitting knots--with different knots exhibiting varying flux values, suggesting that the differing star formation properties across a single galaxy can in general be probed at redshifts z~0.2-0.4. The most prevalent morphologies are large face-on spirals and clumpy interacting systems, many being unique detections owing to the 2D method described here, thus highlighting the strength of this technique.
We present the highest redshift detections of resolved Lyman alpha emission, using Hubble Space Telescope/ACS F658N narrowband-imaging data taken in parallel with the Wide Field Camera 3 Early ...Release Science program in the GOODS CDF-S. We detect Lyman alpha emission from three spectroscopically confirmed z = 4.4 Lyman alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs), more than doubling the sample of LAEs with resolved Lyman alpha emission. Comparing the light distribution between the rest-frame ultraviolet continuum and narrowband images, we investigate the escape of Lyman alpha photons at high redshift. While our data do not support a positional offset between the Lyman alpha and rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) continuum emission, the half-light radii in two out of the three galaxies are significantly larger in Lyman alpha than in the rest-frame UV continuum. This result is confirmed when comparing object sizes in a stack of all objects in both bands. Additionally, the narrowband flux detected with HST is significantly less than observed in similar filters from the ground. These results together imply that the Lyman alpha emission is not strictly confined to its indigenous star-forming regions. Rather, the Lyman alpha emission is more extended, with the missing HST flux likely existing in a diffuse outer halo. This suggests that the radiative transfer of Lyman alpha photons in high-redshift LAEs is complicated, with the interstellar-medium geometry and/or outflows playing a significant role in galaxies at these redshifts.
We present the stellar mass (M-*)-gas-phase metallicity relation (MZR) and its scatter at intermediate redshifts (0.5 <= z <= 0.7) for 1381 field galaxies collected from deep spectroscopic surveys. ...The star formation rate (SFR) and color at a given M-* of this magnitude-limited (R less than or similar to 24 AB) sample are representative of normal star-forming galaxies. For masses below 10(9) M-circle dot, our sample of 237 galaxies is similar to 10 times larger than those in previous studies beyond the local universe. This huge gain in sample size enables superior constraints on the MZR and its scatter in the low-mass regime. We find a power-law MZR at 10(8) M-circle dot < M-* < 10(11) M-circle dot: 12 + log (O/H) = (5.83 +/- 0.19)+(0.30 +/- 0.02) log (M-*/M-circle dot). At 10(9) M-circle dot < M-* < 10(10.5) M-circle dot, our MZR shows agreement with others measured at similar redshifts in the literature. Our power-law slope is, however, shallower than the extrapolation of the MZRs of others to masses below 10(9) M-circle dot. The SFR dependence of the MZR in our sample is weaker than that found for local galaxies (known as the fundamental metallicity relation). Compared to a variety of theoretical models, the slope of our MZR for low-mass galaxies agrees well with predictions incorporating supernova energy-driven winds. Being robust against currently uncertain metallicity calibrations, the scatter of the MZR serves as a powerful diagnostic of the stochastic history of gas accretion, gas recycling, and star formation of low-mass galaxies. Our major result is that the scatter of our MZR increases as M-* decreases. Our result implies that either the scatter of the baryonic accretion rate (sigma((M) over dot)) or the scatter of the M-*-M-halo relation (sigma(SHMR)) increases as M-* decreases. Moreover, our measure of scatter at z = 0.7 appears consistent with that found for local galaxies. This lack of redshift evolution constrains models of galaxy evolution to have both sigma((M) over dot) and sigma(SHMR) remain unchanged from z = 0.7 to z = 0.
The Faint Infrared Grism Survey (FIGS) is a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/IR (Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared) slitless spectroscopic survey of four deep fields. Two fields are located in the ...Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North (GOODS-N) area and two fields are located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-South (GOODS-S) area. One of the southern fields selected is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Each of these four fields were observed using the WFC3/G102 grism (0.8 mu m-1.15 mu m continuous coverage) with a total exposure time of 40 orbits (approximate to 100 kilo-seconds) per field. This reaches a 3 sigma continuum depth of approximate to 26 AB magnitudes and probes emission lines to similar to 10(-17) erg s(-1) cm(-2). This paper details the four FIGS fields and the overall observational strategy of the project. A detailed description of the Simulation Based Extraction (SBE) method used to extract and combine over 10,000 spectra of over 2000 distinct sources brighter than m(F105W) = 26.5 mag is provided. High fidelity simulations of the observations is shown to significantly improve the background subtraction process, the spectral contamination estimates, and the final flux calibration. This allows for the combination of multiple spectra to produce a final high quality, deep, 1D spectra for each object in the survey.
Astrophys.J.591:L17-L20,2003 We present early observations of the afterglow of the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB)
030329 and the spectroscopic discovery of its associated supernova SN 2003dh.
We obtained ...spectra of the afterglow of GRB 030329 each night from March 30.12
(0.6 days after the burst) to April 8.13 (UT) (9.6 days after the burst). The
spectra cover a wavelength range of 350 nm to 850 nm. The early spectra consist
of a power-law continuum (F_nu ~ nu^{-0.9}) with narrow emission lines
originating from HII regions in the host galaxy, indicating a low redshift of
z=0.1687. However, our spectra taken after 2003 Apr. 5 show broad peaks in flux
characteristic of a supernova. Correcting for the afterglow emission, we find
the spectrum of the supernova is remarkably similar to the type Ic `hypernova'
SN 1998bw. While the presence of supernovae have been inferred from the light
curves and colors of GRB afterglows in the past, this is the first direct,
spectroscopic confirmation that a subset of classical gamma-ray bursts
originate from supernovae.
We present early observations of the afterglow of the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 030329 and the spectroscopic discovery of its associated supernova SN 2003dh. We obtained spectra of the afterglow of GRB ...030329 each night from March 30.12 (0.6 days after the burst) to April 8.13 (UT) (9.6 days after the burst). The spectra cover a wavelength range of 350 nm to 850 nm. The early spectra consist of a power-law continuum (F_nu ~ nu^{-0.9}) with narrow emission lines originating from HII regions in the host galaxy, indicating a low redshift of z=0.1687. However, our spectra taken after 2003 Apr. 5 show broad peaks in flux characteristic of a supernova. Correcting for the afterglow emission, we find the spectrum of the supernova is remarkably similar to the type Ic `hypernova' SN 1998bw. While the presence of supernovae have been inferred from the light curves and colors of GRB afterglows in the past, this is the first direct, spectroscopic confirmation that a subset of classical gamma-ray bursts originate from supernovae.