A remarkably luminous galaxy at z =11.1 measured with Hubble space telescope grism spectroscopy

P. A. Oesch; G. Brammer; P. G Van Dokkum; G. D. Illingworth; R. J. Bouwens; I. Labbé; M. Franx; I. Momcheva; M. L N Ashby; G. G. Fazio; V. Gonzalez; B. Holden; D. Magee; R. E. Skelton; R. Smit; L. R. Spitler; M. Trenti; S. P. Willner

doi:10.3847/0004-637X/819/2/129

A remarkably luminous galaxy at z =11.1 measured with Hubble space telescope grism spectroscopy

P. A. Oesch, G. Brammer, P. G Van Dokkum, G. D. Illingworth, R. J. Bouwens, I. Labbé, M. Franx, I. Momcheva, M. L N Ashby, G. G. Fazio, V. Gonzalez, B. Holden, D. Magee, R. E. Skelton, R. Smit, L. R. Spitler, M. Trenti, S. P. Willner

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Abstract

We present Hubble WFC3/IR slitless grism spectra of a remarkably bright z ≥ 10 galaxy candidate, GN-z11, identified initially from CANDELS/GOODS-N imaging data. A significant spectroscopic continuum break is detected at . 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 Lyα break redshifted to , just ∼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 3 larger than measured at z ∼ 6-8. The Spitzer IRAC detections up to 4.5 μm of this galaxy are consistent with a stellar mass of ∼10⁹M_o-. This spectroscopic redshift measurement suggests that 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.

Original language	English
Article number	129
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Number of pages	11
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	819
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/819/2/129
Publication status	Published - 10 Mar 2016

Keywords

dark ages, reionization, first stars
galaxies: evolution
galaxies: formation
galaxies: high-redshift

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10.3847/0004-637X/819/2/129

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Oesch, P. A., Brammer, G., Dokkum, P. G. V., Illingworth, G. D., Bouwens, R. J., Labbé, I., Franx, M., Momcheva, I., Ashby, M. L. N., Fazio, G. G., Gonzalez, V., Holden, B., Magee, D., Skelton, R. E., Smit, R., Spitler, L. R., Trenti, M., & Willner, S. P. (2016). A remarkably luminous galaxy at z =11.1 measured with Hubble space telescope grism spectroscopy. Astrophysical Journal, 819(2), 1-11. [129]. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/819/2/129

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title = "A remarkably luminous galaxy at z =11.1 measured with Hubble space telescope grism spectroscopy",

abstract = "We present Hubble WFC3/IR slitless grism spectra of a remarkably bright z ≥ 10 galaxy candidate, GN-z11, identified initially from CANDELS/GOODS-N imaging data. A significant spectroscopic continuum break is detected at . 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 Lyα break redshifted to , just ∼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 3 larger than measured at z ∼ 6-8. The Spitzer IRAC detections up to 4.5 μm of this galaxy are consistent with a stellar mass of ∼109Mo-. This spectroscopic redshift measurement suggests that 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.",

keywords = "dark ages, reionization, first stars, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: formation, galaxies: high-redshift",

author = "Oesch, {P. A.} and G. Brammer and Dokkum, {P. G Van} and Illingworth, {G. D.} and Bouwens, {R. J.} and I. Labb{\'e} and M. Franx and I. Momcheva and Ashby, {M. L N} and Fazio, {G. G.} and V. Gonzalez and B. Holden and D. Magee and Skelton, {R. E.} and R. Smit and Spitler, {L. R.} and M. Trenti and Willner, {S. P.}",

year = "2016",

month = mar,

day = "10",

doi = "10.3847/0004-637X/819/2/129",

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Oesch, PA, Brammer, G, Dokkum, PGV, Illingworth, GD, Bouwens, RJ, Labbé, I, Franx, M, Momcheva, I, Ashby, MLN, Fazio, GG, Gonzalez, V, Holden, B, Magee, D, Skelton, RE, Smit, R, Spitler, LR, Trenti, M & Willner, SP 2016, 'A remarkably luminous galaxy at z =11.1 measured with Hubble space telescope grism spectroscopy', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 819, no. 2, 129, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/819/2/129

TY - JOUR

T1 - A remarkably luminous galaxy at z =11.1 measured with Hubble space telescope grism spectroscopy

AU - Oesch, P. A.

AU - Brammer, G.

AU - Dokkum, P. G Van

AU - Illingworth, G. D.

AU - Bouwens, R. J.

AU - Labbé, I.

AU - Franx, M.

AU - Momcheva, I.

AU - Ashby, M. L N

AU - Fazio, G. G.

AU - Gonzalez, V.

AU - Holden, B.

AU - Magee, D.

AU - Skelton, R. E.

AU - Smit, R.

AU - Spitler, L. R.

AU - Trenti, M.

AU - Willner, S. P.

PY - 2016/3/10

Y1 - 2016/3/10

N2 - We present Hubble WFC3/IR slitless grism spectra of a remarkably bright z ≥ 10 galaxy candidate, GN-z11, identified initially from CANDELS/GOODS-N imaging data. A significant spectroscopic continuum break is detected at . 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 Lyα break redshifted to , just ∼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 3 larger than measured at z ∼ 6-8. The Spitzer IRAC detections up to 4.5 μm of this galaxy are consistent with a stellar mass of ∼109Mo-. This spectroscopic redshift measurement suggests that 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.

AB - We present Hubble WFC3/IR slitless grism spectra of a remarkably bright z ≥ 10 galaxy candidate, GN-z11, identified initially from CANDELS/GOODS-N imaging data. A significant spectroscopic continuum break is detected at . 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 Lyα break redshifted to , just ∼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 3 larger than measured at z ∼ 6-8. The Spitzer IRAC detections up to 4.5 μm of this galaxy are consistent with a stellar mass of ∼109Mo-. This spectroscopic redshift measurement suggests that 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.

KW - dark ages, reionization, first stars

KW - galaxies: evolution

KW - galaxies: formation

KW - galaxies: high-redshift

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SN - 0004-637X

VL - 819

SP - 1

EP - 11

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 2

M1 - 129

ER -

A remarkably luminous galaxy at z =11.1 measured with Hubble space telescope grism spectroscopy

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