An ALMA Multiline Survey of the Interstellar Medium of the Redshift 7.5 Quasar Host Galaxy J1342+0928

Mladen Novak, Eduardo Banados, Roberto Decarli, Fabian Walter, Bram Venemans, Marcel Neeleman, Emanuele Paolo Farina, Chiara Mazzucchelli, Chris Carilli, Xiaohui Fan, Hans Walter Rix, Feige Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

We use Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations of the host galaxy of the quasar ULAS J1342+0928 at z = 7.54, to study the dust continuum and far-infrared lines emitted from its interstellar medium (ISM). The Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the dust continuum is well sampled with eight different spectral setups, and from a modified blackbody fit we obtain an emissivity coefficient of β = 1.85 ±0.3. Assuming a standard dust temperature of 47 K we derive a dust mass of M dust = 0.35 ×108 M and a star formation rate of . We have >4σ detections of the , , and atomic fine structure lines and limits on the , , and emission. We also report multiple limits of CO rotational lines with J up ≥ 7, as well as a tentative 3.3σ detection of the stack of four CO lines (J up = 11, 10, 8, and 7). We find line deficits that are in agreement with local ultra-luminous infrared galaxies. Comparison of the and lines indicates that the emission arises predominantly from the neutral medium, and we estimate that the photodisassociation regions in J1342+0928 have densities ≲5 ×104 cm-3. The data suggest that ∼16% of hydrogen is in ionized form and that the H ii regions have high electron densities of n e > 180 cm-3. Our observations favor a low gas-to-dust ratio of <100, and a metallicity of the ISM comparable to the solar value. All the measurements presented here suggest that the host galaxy of J1342+0928 is highly enriched in metal and dust, despite being observed just 680 Myr after the big bang.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number63
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume881
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 10 2019

Keywords

  • cosmology: observations
  • galaxies: ISM
  • galaxies: high-redshift
  • galaxies: individual (ULAS J1342+0928)
  • quasars: emission lines

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An ALMA Multiline Survey of the Interstellar Medium of the Redshift 7.5 Quasar Host Galaxy J1342+0928'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this