A Remarkably Luminous Galaxy at z=11.1 Measured with Hubble Space Telescope Grism Spectroscopy
read the original abstract
We present Hubble WFC3/IR slitless grism spectra of a remarkably bright $z\gtrsim10$ galaxy candidate, GN-z11, identified initially from CANDELS/GOODS-N imaging data. A significant spectroscopic continuum break is detected at $\lambda=1.47\pm0.01~\mu$m. The new grism data, combined with the photometric data, rule out all plausible lower redshift solutions for this source. The only viable solution is that this continuum break is the Ly$\alpha$ break redshifted to ${z_\mathrm{grism}=11.09^{+0.08}_{-0.12}}$, just $\sim$400 Myr after the Big Bang. This observation extends the current spectroscopic frontier by 150 Myr to well before the Planck (instantaneous) cosmic reionization peak at z~8.8, demonstrating that galaxy build-up was well underway early in the reionization epoch at z>10. GN-z11 is remarkably and unexpectedly luminous for a galaxy at such an early time: its UV luminosity is 3x larger than L* measured at z~6-8. The Spitzer IRAC detections up to 4.5 $\mu$m of this galaxy are consistent with a stellar mass of ${\sim10^{9}~M_\odot}$. This spectroscopic redshift measurement suggests that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be able to similarly and easily confirm such sources at z>10 and characterize their physical properties through detailed spectroscopy. Furthermore, WFIRST, with its wide-field near-IR imaging, would find large numbers of similar galaxies and contribute greatly to JWST's spectroscopy, if it is launched early enough to overlap with JWST.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
Forward citations
Cited by 7 Pith papers
-
Direct detection of cool molecular gas in a star-forming galaxy at $z=7.31$
Direct detection of CO(3-2) at z=7.31 in REBELS-25 gives M_mol ~ 10^11 M_sun with f_gas ~0.95, confirming a massive molecular reservoir and showing low-J CO remains detectable in the Epoch of Reionization.
-
A Pixel-by-Pixel Path to Population III Discovery with JWST
Pixel-by-pixel SBI modeling recovers young massive Pop III clumps at up to 90 percent rate in favorable JWST-like configurations while integrated analyses fail due to contamination.
-
JWST spectroscopy of galaxies at $z>10$: Damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers reveal efficient star formation and hidden redshift biases
Analysis of JWST/NIRSpec Prism spectra for 25 z>=10 galaxies finds burstiness correlates with strong UV lines, short depletion times, and DLA-induced redshift biases of 0.39 and 0.14 with marginal impact on UV luminos...
-
Signature of Bursty Star Formation in the High-Redshift Galaxies Detected with JWST
Shorter star formation timescales in a semi-analytical UV LF model explain the slow evolution observed by JWST at z>10 without requiring changes in star formation efficiency.
-
The energy conditions and model selection in the local Universe
Local HII galaxy and cosmic chronometer data favor the Rh=ct universe over ΛCDM at 92% vs 8% likelihood, with Rh=ct satisfying all energy conditions while ΛCDM violates the strong energy condition at z≲2.
-
First Light And Reionization Epoch Simulations (FLARES) XXI: The UV Indices of Galaxies in the Early Universe
Simulations of high-redshift galaxies show the 1719 Å UV index reliably traces stellar metallicity while others are more sensitive to star formation history.
-
Astro2020 Science White Paper: Exploration and characterization of the earliest epoch of galaxy formation: beyond the re-ionization era
The paper proposes two survey strategies to find statistically large numbers of z=10-15 galaxies before reionization using [OIII] spectroscopy or pop-III GRB transients.
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.