Abstract
We present calculations of ultraviolet spectra resulting from the scattering of photons by gas infalling onto an isotropically emitting source of radiation. The model is based on an ...adaptation of the semianalytical line transfer (SALT) code of Scarlata & Panagia, and designed to interpret the inverse P Cygni profiles observed in the spectra of partially ionized galactic inflows. In addition to presenting the model, we explore the parameter space of the inflowing SALT model and recreate various physically motivated scenarios including spherical inflows, inflows with covering fractions less than unity, and galactic fountains (i.e., galactic systems with both an inflowing and outflowing component). The resulting spectra from inflowing gas show spectral features that could be misinterpreted as interstellar medium features in low resolution spectroscopy (
σ
≈ 120 km s
−1
), suggesting that the total number of galactic systems with inflows is undercounted. Our models suggest that observations at medium resolution (
R
= 6000 or
σ
≈ 50 km s
−1
) that can be obtained with 8 m class telescopes will be able to resolve the characteristic inverse P Cygni profiles necessary to identify inflows.
Context. The Lyman-alpha (Lyα) line of hydrogen is of prime importance for detecting galaxies at high redshift. For a correct data interpretation, numerical radiative transfer models are necessary ...due to Lyα resonant scattering off neutral hydrogen atoms. Aims. Recent observations have discovered an escape of ionizing Lyman-continuum radiation from a population of compact, actively star-forming galaxies at redshift z ~ 0.2−0.3, also known as “green peas”. For the potential similarities with high-redshift galaxies and impact on the reionization of the universe, we study the green pea Lyα spectra, which are mostly double-peaked, unlike in any other galaxy sample. If the double peaks are a result of radiative transfer, they can be a useful source of information on the green pea interstellar medium and ionizing radiation escape. Methods. We select a sample of twelve archival green peas and we apply numerical radiative transfer models to reproduce the observed Lyα spectral profiles, using the geometry of expanding, homogeneous spherical shells. We use ancillary optical and ultraviolet data to constrain the model parameters, and we evaluate the match between the models and the observed Lyα spectra. As a second step, we allow all the fitting parameters to be free, and examine the agreement between the interstellar medium parameters derived from the models and those from ancillary data. Results. The peculiar green pea double-peaked Lyα line profiles are not correctly reproduced by the constrained shell models. Conversely, unconstrained models fit the spectra, but parameters derived from the best-fitting models are not in agreement with the ancillary data. In particular: 1) the best-fit systemic redshifts are larger by 10–250 km s−1 than those derived from optical emission lines; 2) the double-peaked Lyα profiles are best reproduced with low-velocity (≲150 km s−1) outflows that contradict the observed ultraviolet absorption lines of low-ionization-state elements with characteristic velocities as large as 300 km s−1; and 3) the models need to consider intrinsic Lyα profiles that are on average three times broader than the observed Balmer lines. Conclusions. Differences between the modelled and observed velocities are larger for targets with prominent Lyα blue peaks. The blue peak position and flux appear to be connected to low column densities of neutral hydrogen, leading to Lyα and Lyman-continuum escape. This is at odds with the kinematic origin of the blue peak in the homogeneous shell models. Additional modelling is needed to explore alternative geometries such as clumpy media and non-recombination Lyα sources to further constrain the role and significance of the Lyα double peaks.
ABSTRACT
Most of the hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) was rapidly ionized at high redshifts. While observations have established that reionization occurred, observational constraints on the ...high-redshift ionizing emissivity remain elusive. Here, we present a new analysis of the Low-redshift Lyman Continuum Survey (LzLCS) and literature observations, a combined sample of 89 star-forming galaxies at redshifts near 0.3 with Hubble Space Telescope observations of their ionizing continua (or Lyman Continuum, LyC). We find a strong (6σ significant) inverse correlation between the continuum slope at 1550 Å (defined as F$_\lambda \propto \lambda ^{\beta ^{1550}_{\rm obs}}$) and both the LyC escape fraction (fesc, LyC) and fesc, LyC times the ionizing photon production efficiency (ξion). On average, galaxies with redder continuum slopes have smaller fesc, LyC than galaxies with bluer slopes mainly due to higher dust attenuation. More than 5 per cent (20 per cent) of the LyC emission escapes galaxies with $\beta _{\rm obs}^{1550}$ <−2.1 (−2.6). We find strong correlations between $\beta _{\rm obs}^{1550}$ and the O iii/O ii flux ratio (at 7.5σ significance), galaxy stellar mass (at 5.9σ), the gas-phase metallicity (at 4.6σ), and the observed far-ultraviolet absolute magnitude (at 3.4σ). Using previous observations of $\beta _{\rm obs}^{1550}$ at high redshift, we estimate the evolution of fesc, LyC with both redshift and galaxy magnitude. The LzLCS observations suggest that fainter and lower mass galaxies dominate the ionizing photon budget at higher redshift, possibly due to their rapidly evolving metal and dust content. Finally, we use our correlation between $\beta _{\rm obs}^{1550}$ and fesc, LyC × ξion to predict the ionizing emissivity of galaxies during the epoch of reionization. Our estimated emissivities match IGM observations, and suggest that star-forming galaxies emit sufficient LyC photons into the IGM to exceed recombinations near redshifts of 7–8.
Abstract
Absorption line spectroscopy offers one of the best opportunities to constrain the properties of galactic outflows and the environment of the circumgalactic medium. Extracting physical ...information from line profiles is difficult; however, for the physics governing the underlying radiation transfer is complicated and depends on many different parameters. Idealized analytical models are necessary to constrain the large parameter spaces efficiently, but are typically plagued by model degeneracy and systematic errors. Comparison tests with idealized numerical radiation transfer codes offer an excellent opportunity to confront both of these issues. In this paper, we present a detailed comparison between SALT, an analytical radiation transfer model for predicting UV spectra of galactic outflows, with the numerical radiation transfer software, RASCAS. Our analysis has led to upgrades to both models including an improved derivation of SALT and a customizable adaptive mesh refinement routine for RASCAS. We explore how well SALT, when paired with a Monte Carlo fitting procedure, can recover flow parameters from nonturbulent and turbulent flows. Overall we find that turbulence leads to biases in the recovery of kinematic parameters and the optical depth, but find that derived quantities (e.g., mass outflow rates, column density, etc.) are still well recovered. From the analysis, we estimate average uncertainties in our ability to measure metal flow rates spanning 0.65 (0.95) dex in
M
⊙
yr
−1
and uncertainties spanning 0.54 (0.94) dex in cm
−2
for column densities at a resolution of 20 (100) km s
−1
and signal-to-noise ratio = 10.
Abstract
The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) has become a cornerstone of extragalactic astronomy. Since the last public catalog in 2015, a wealth of new imaging and spectroscopic data have been ...collected in the COSMOS field. This paper describes the collection, processing, and analysis of these new imaging data to produce a new reference photometric redshift catalog. Source detection and multiwavelength photometry are performed for 1.7 million sources across the 2 deg
2
of the COSMOS field, ∼966,000 of which are measured with all available broadband data using both traditional aperture photometric methods and a new profile-fitting photometric extraction tool,
The Farmer
, which we have developed. A detailed comparison of the two resulting photometric catalogs is presented. Photometric redshifts are computed for all sources in each catalog utilizing two independent photometric redshift codes. Finally, a comparison is made between the performance of the photometric methodologies and of the redshift codes to demonstrate an exceptional degree of self-consistency in the resulting photometric redshifts. The
i
< 21 sources have subpercent photometric redshift accuracy and even the faintest sources at 25 <
i
< 27 reach a precision of 5%. Finally, these results are discussed in the context of previous, current, and future surveys in the COSMOS field. Compared to COSMOS2015, it reaches the same photometric redshift precision at almost one magnitude deeper. Both photometric catalogs and their photometric redshift solutions and physical parameters will be made available through the usual astronomical archive systems (ESO Phase 3, IPAC-IRSA, and CDS).
Abstract
The GLASS-JWST Early Release Science (hereafter GLASS-JWST-ERS) Program will obtain and make publicly available the deepest extragalactic data of the ERS campaign. It is primarily designed ...to address two key science questions, namely, “what sources ionized the universe and when?” and “how do baryons cycle through galaxies?”, while also enabling a broad variety of first look scientific investigations. In primary mode, it will obtain NIRISS and NIRSpec spectroscopy of galaxies lensed by the foreground Hubble Frontier Field cluster, Abell 2744. In parallel, it will use NIRCam to observe two fields that are offset from the cluster center, where lensing magnification is negligible, and which can thus be effectively considered blank fields. In order to prepare the community for access to this unprecedented data, we describe the scientific rationale, the survey design (including target selection and observational setups), and present pre-commissioning estimates of the expected sensitivity. In addition, we describe the planned public releases of high-level data products, for use by the wider astronomical community.
Abstract
We present the first James Webb Space Telescope/NIRCam-led determination of 7 <
z
< 9 galaxy properties based on broadband imaging from 0.8 to 5
μ
m as part of the GLASS-JWST Early Release ...Science program. This is the deepest data set acquired at these wavelengths to date, with an angular resolution ≲0.″14. We robustly identify 13 galaxies with signal-to-noise ratio ≳ 8 in F444W from 8 arcmin
2
of data at
m
AB
≤ 28 from a combination of dropout and photometric redshift selection. From simulated data modeling, we estimate the dropout sample purity to be ≳90%. We find that the number density of these F444W-selected sources is broadly consistent with expectations from the UV luminosity function determined from Hubble Space Telescope data. We characterize galaxy physical properties using a Bayesian spectral energy distribution fitting method, finding a median stellar mass of 10
8.5
M
⊙
and age 140 Myr, indicating they started ionizing their surroundings at redshift
z
> 9.5. Their star formation main sequence is consistent with predictions from simulations. Lastly, we introduce an analytical framework to constrain main-sequence evolution at
z
> 7 based on galaxy ages and basic assumptions, through which we find results consistent with expectations from cosmological simulations. While this work only gives a glimpse of the properties of typical galaxies that are thought to drive the reionization of the universe, it clearly shows the potential of JWST to unveil unprecedented details of galaxy formation in the first billion years.
Context. Finding the sources responsible for the hydrogen reionization is one of the most pressing issues in observational cosmology. Bright quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) are known to ionize their ...surrounding neighborhood, but they are too few to ensure the required HI ionizing background. A significant contribution by faint active galactic nuclei (AGNs), however, could solve the problem, as recently advocated on the basis of a relatively large space density of faint active nuclei at z > 4. Aims. This work is part of a long-term project aimed at measuring the Lyman Continuum escape fraction for a large sample of AGNs at z ~ 4 down to an absolute magnitude of M1450 ~ −23. We have carried out an exploratory spectroscopic program to measure the HI ionizing emission of 16 faint AGNs spanning a broad U − I color interval, with I ~ 21–23, and 3.6 < z < 4.2. These AGNs are three magnitudes fainter than the typical SDSS QSOs (M1450 ≲−26) which are known to ionize their surrounding IGM at z ≳ 4. Methods. We acquired deep spectra of these faint AGNs with spectrographs available at the VLT, LBT, and Magellan telescopes, that is, FORS2, MODS1-2, and LDSS3, respectively. The emission in the Lyman Continuum region, close to 900 Å rest frame, has been detected with a signal to noise ratio of ~10–120 for all 16 AGNs. The flux ratio between the 900 Å rest-frame region and 930 Å provides a robust estimate of the escape fraction of HI ionizing photons. Results. We have found that the Lyman Continuum escape fraction is between 44 and 100% for all the observed faint AGNs, with a mean value of 74% at 3.6 < z < 4.2 and − 25.1 ≲ M1450 ≲−23.3, in agreement with the value found in the literature for much brighter QSOs (M1450 ≲−26) at the same redshifts. The Lyman Continuum escape fraction of our faint AGNs does not show any dependence on the absolute luminosities or on the observed U − I colors of the objects. Assuming that the Lyman Continuum escape fraction remains close to ~75% down to M1450 ~ − 18, we find that the AGN population can provide between 16 and 73% (depending on the adopted luminosity function) of the whole ionizing UV background at z ~ 4, measured through the Lyman forest. This contribution increases to 25–100% if other determinations of the ionizing UV background are adopted from the recent literature. Conclusions. Extrapolating these results to z ~ 5–7, there are possible indications that bright QSOs and faint AGNs can provide a significant contribution to the reionization of the Universe, if their space density is high at M1450 ~ −23.
Abstract
We exploit James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam observations from the GLASS-JWST-Early Release Science program to investigate galaxy stellar masses at
z
> 7. We first show that JWST ...observations reduce the uncertainties on the stellar mass by a factor of at least 5–10, when compared with the highest-quality data sets available to date. We then study the UV mass-to-light ratio, finding that galaxies exhibit a a two orders of magnitude range of
M
/
L
UV
values for a given luminosity, indicative of a broad variety of physical conditions and star formation histories. As a consequence, previous estimates of the cosmic stellar-mass density—based on an average correlation between UV luminosity and stellar mass—can be biased by as much as a factor of ∼6. Our first exploration demonstrates that JWST represents a new era in our understanding of stellar masses at
z
> 7 and, therefore, of the growth of galaxies prior to cosmic reionization.
We present deep Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (HST/WFC3) slitless spectroscopic observations of the distant cluster Cl J1449+0856. These cover a single pointing with 18 orbits of G141 ...spectroscopy and F140W imaging, allowing us to derive secure redshifts down to M sub(140) ~ 25.5 AB and 3sigma line fluxes of ~5 x 10 super(-18) erg s super(-1) cm super(-2). In particular, we were able to spectroscopically confirm 12 early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the field up to z ~ 3, 6 of which are in the cluster core, which represents the first direct spectroscopic confirmation of quiescent galaxies in a z = 2 cluster environment. With 140 redshifts in a ~6 arcmin super(2) field, we can trace the spatial and redshift galaxy distribution in the cluster core and background field. We find two strong peaks at z = 2.00 and z = 2.07, where only one was seen in our previously published ground-based data. Due to the spectroscopic confirmation of the cluster ETGs, we can now reevaluate the redshift of Cl J1449+0856 at z = 2.00, rather than z = 2.07, with the background overdensity being revealed to be sparse and "sheet"-like. This presents an interesting case of chance alignment of two close yet unrelated structures, each one preferentially selected by different observing strategies. With 6 quiescent or early-type spectroscopic members and 20 star-forming ones, Cl J1449+0856 is now reliably confirmed to be at z = 2.00. The identified members can now allow for a detailed study of galaxy properties in the densest environment at z = 2.
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