Observation of H₂O in a strongly lensed Herschel-ATLAS source at z = 2.3

The Herschel survey, H-ATLAS, with its large areal coverage, has recently discovered a number of bright, strongly lensed high-z submillimeter galaxies. The strong magnification makes it possible to study molecular species other than CO, which are otherwise difficult to observe in high-z galaxies. Am...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: David Hughes
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:México
Institución:Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica
Repositorio:Repositorio Institucional del INAOE
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:inaoe.repositorioinstitucional.mx:1009/1868
Acceso en línea:http://inaoe.repositorioinstitucional.mx/jspui/handle/1009/1868
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:info:eu-repo/classification/Inspec/Galaxies: high-redshift
info:eu-repo/classification/Inspec/Galaxies: starburst
info:eu-repo/classification/Inspec/Galaxies: active
info:eu-repo/classification/Inspec/Infrared: galaxies
info:eu-repo/classification/Inspec/Submillimeter: galaxies
info:eu-repo/classification/Inspec/Radio lines: galaxie
info:eu-repo/classification/cti/1
info:eu-repo/classification/cti/21
Descripción
Sumario:The Herschel survey, H-ATLAS, with its large areal coverage, has recently discovered a number of bright, strongly lensed high-z submillimeter galaxies. The strong magnification makes it possible to study molecular species other than CO, which are otherwise difficult to observe in high-z galaxies. Among the lensed galaxies already identified by H-ATLAS, the source J090302.9-014127B (SDP.17b) at z = 2.305 is remarkable because of its excitation conditions and a tentative detection of the H₂O 2₀₂2-1₁₁ emission line (Lupu et al. 2010, ApJ, submitted). We report observations of this line in SDP.17b using the IRAM interferometer equipped with its new 277–371 GHz receivers. The H₂O line is detected at a redshift of z = 2.3049 ± 0.0006, with a flux of 7.8 ± 0.5 Jy km s⁻¹ and a FWHM of 250 ± 60 km s⁻¹. The new flux is 2.4 times weaker than the previous tentative detection, although both remain marginally consistent within 1.6σ. The intrinsic line luminosity and ratio of H₂O(2₀₂−1₁₁)/CO(8−7) are comparable with those of the nearby starburst/enshrouded-AGN Mrk 231, and the ratio I(H₂O)/L is even higher, suggesting that SDP.17b could also host a luminous AGN. The detection of a strong H₂O 2₀₂−1₁₁ line in SDP.17b implies an efficient excitation mechanism of the water levels that must occur in very dense and warm interstellar gas probably similar to Mrk 231.