A Lyα galaxy at redshift z = 6.944 in the COSMOS field

James E. Rhoads, Pascale Hibon, Sangeeta Malhotra, Michael Cooper, Benjamin Weiner

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberL28
JournalAstrophysical Journal Letters
Volume752
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 20 2012

Keywords

  • dark ages, reionization, first stars
  • galaxies: high-redshift

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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