Gran Telescopio Canarias observations of an overdense region of Lyman alpha emitters at z=6.5

We present the results of our search near the end of the Reionization Epoch for faint galaxies. This has been done using very deep OSIRIS images obtained at the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). Our observations focus around two close, massive Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) at redshift 6.5, discovered in...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gallego Maestro, Jesús, otros, ...
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/18163
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/18163
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:52
Ultra-deep-field
Star-forming galaxies
Emission-line galaxies
High-redshift galaxies
Digital sky survey
Ly-alpha
Break galaxies
Reionization epoch
Luminosity functions
Primeval galaxies
Astrofísica
Astronomía (Física)
Descripción
Sumario:We present the results of our search near the end of the Reionization Epoch for faint galaxies. This has been done using very deep OSIRIS images obtained at the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). Our observations focus around two close, massive Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) at redshift 6.5, discovered in the SXDS field within a large-scale overdense region. The total GTC observing time in three medium band filters (F883w35, F913w25 and F941w33) is over 34 h covering 7.0 x 8.5 arcmin(2) (or similar to 30 000 Mpc(3) at z = 6.5). In addition to the two spectroscopically confirmed LAEs in the field, we have identified 45 other LAE candidates. The preliminary luminosity function derived from our observations, assuming a spectroscopic confirmation success rate of 2/3 as in previous surveys, suggests this area is about 2 times denser than the general field galaxy population at z = 6.5. If confirmed spectroscopically, our results will imply the discovery of one of the earliest protoclusters in the Universe, which will evolve to resemble the most massive galaxy clusters today.