TY - JOUR
T1 - A Lyα galaxy at redshift z = 6.944 in the COSMOS field
AU - Rhoads, James E.
AU - Hibon, Pascale
AU - Malhotra, Sangeeta
AU - Cooper, Michael
AU - Weiner, Benjamin
PY - 2012/6/20
Y1 - 2012/6/20
N2 - Lyα emitting galaxies can be used to study cosmological reionization, because a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) scatters Lyα photons into diffuse halos whose surface brightness falls below typical survey detection limits. Here, we present the Lyα emitting galaxy LAE J095950.99+021219.1, identified at redshift z = 6.944 in the COSMOS field using narrowband imaging and follow-up spectroscopy with the IMACS instrument on the Magellan I Baade telescope. With a single object spectroscopically confirmed so far, our survey remains consistent with a wide range of IGM neutral fraction at z 7, but further observations are planned and will help clarify the situation. Meantime, the object we present here is only the third Lyα-selected galaxy to be spectroscopically confirmed at z ≳ 7, and is 2-3 times fainter than the previously confirmed z 7 Lyα galaxies.
AB - Lyα emitting galaxies can be used to study cosmological reionization, because a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) scatters Lyα photons into diffuse halos whose surface brightness falls below typical survey detection limits. Here, we present the Lyα emitting galaxy LAE J095950.99+021219.1, identified at redshift z = 6.944 in the COSMOS field using narrowband imaging and follow-up spectroscopy with the IMACS instrument on the Magellan I Baade telescope. With a single object spectroscopically confirmed so far, our survey remains consistent with a wide range of IGM neutral fraction at z 7, but further observations are planned and will help clarify the situation. Meantime, the object we present here is only the third Lyα-selected galaxy to be spectroscopically confirmed at z ≳ 7, and is 2-3 times fainter than the previously confirmed z 7 Lyα galaxies.
KW - dark ages, reionization, first stars
KW - galaxies: high-redshift
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84861876315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84861876315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/752/2/L28
DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/752/2/L28
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84861876315
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 752
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 2
M1 - L28
ER -