ISM Properties of a Massive Dusty Star-forming Galaxy Discovered at z ∼ 7

  • M. L. Strandet
  • , A. Weiss
  • , C. De Breuck
  • , D. P. Marrone
  • , J. D. Vieira
  • , M. Aravena
  • , M. L.N. Ashby
  • , M. Béthermin
  • , M. S. Bothwell
  • , C. M. Bradford
  • , J. E. Carlstrom
  • , S. C. Chapman
  • , D. J.M. Cunningham
  • , Chian Chou Chen
  • , C. D. Fassnacht
  • , A. H. Gonzalez
  • , T. R. Greve
  • , B. Gullberg
  • , C. C. Hayward
  • , Y. Hezaveh
  • K. Litke, J. Ma, M. Malkan, K. M. Menten, T. Miller, E. J. Murphy, D. Narayanan, K. A. Phadke, K. M. Rotermund, J. S. Spilker, J. Sreevani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

125 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the discovery and constrain the physical conditions of the interstellar medium of the highest-redshift millimeter-selected dusty star-forming galaxy to date, SPT-S J031132-5823.4 (hereafter SPT0311-58), at z = 6.900 ± 0.002. SPT0311-58 was discovered via its 1.4 mm thermal dust continuum emission in the South Pole Telescope (SPT)-SZ survey. The spectroscopic redshift was determined through an Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 3 mm frequency scan that detected CO(6-5), CO(7-6), and [C I](2-1), and subsequently was confirmed by detections of CO(3-2) with the Australia Telescope Compact Array and [C II] with APEX. We constrain the properties of the ISM in SPT0311-58 with a radiative transfer analysis of the dust continuum photometry and the CO and [C I] line emission. This allows us to determine the gas content without ad hoc assumptions about gas mass scaling factors. SPT0311-58 is extremely massive, with an intrinsic gas mass of Mgas 3.3±1.9×1011 M. Its large mass and intense star formation is very rare for a source well into the epoch of reionization.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberL15
JournalAstrophysical Journal Letters
Volume842
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 20 2017

Keywords

  • Early universe
  • Galaxies: high-redshift
  • Galaxies: star formation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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