| 1. |
- Diego, Jose M., et al.
(author)
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JWST's PEARLS : Mothra, a new kaiju star at z=2.091 extremely magnified by MACS0416, and implications for dark matter models
- 2023
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 679
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the discovery of Mothra, an extremely magnified monster star, likely a binary system of two supergiant stars, in one of the strongly lensed galaxies behind the galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403. Mothra is in a galaxy with spectroscopic redshift z = 2.091 in a portion of the galaxy that is parsecs away from the cluster caustic. The binary star is observed only on the side of the critical curve with negative parity but has been detectable for at least eight years, implying the presence of a small lensing perturber. Microlenses alone cannot explain the earlier observations of this object made with the Hubble Space Telescope. A larger perturber with a mass of at least 10(4 )M(circle dot) offers a more satisfactory explanation. Based on the lack of perturbation on other nearby sources in the same arc, the maximum mass of the perturber is 2.5 x 10(6) M-circle dot, making this the smallest substructure constrained by lensing at z > 0.3. The existence of this millilens is fully consistent with expectations from standard cold dark matter cosmology. On the other hand, the existence of such a small substructure in a cluster environment has implications for other dark matter models. In particular, warm dark matter models with particle masses below 8.7 keV are excluded by our observations. Similarly, axion dark matter models are consistent with the observations only if the axion mass is in the range 0.5 x 10(-22) eV < m(a )< 5 x 10(-22) eV.
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| 2. |
- Fudamoto, Yoshinobu, et al.
(author)
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The Extended [C II] under Construction? : Observation of the Brightest High-z Lensed Star-forming Galaxy at z=6.2
- 2024
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 961:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present results of [C ii] 158 μm emission line observations, and report the spectroscopic redshift confirmation of a strongly lensed (μ ∼ 20) star-forming galaxy, MACS0308-zD1 at z = 6.2078 ± 0.0002. The [C ii] emission line is detected with a signal-to-noise ratio >6 within the rest-frame UV-bright clump of the lensed galaxy (zD1.1) and exhibits multiple velocity components; the narrow [C ii] has a velocity full width half maximum (FWHM) of 110 ± 20 km s−1, while broader [C ii] is seen with an FWHM of 230 ± 50 km s−1. The broader [C ii] component is blueshifted (−80 ± 20 km s−1) with respect to the narrow [C ii] component, and has a morphology that extends beyond the UV-bright clump. We find that, while the narrow [C ii] emission is most likely associated with zD1.1, the broader component is possibly associated with a physically distinct gas component from zD1.1 (e.g., outflowing or inflowing gas). Based on the nondetection of λ158μm dust continuum, we find that MACS0308-zD1's star formation activity occurs in a dust-free environment indicated by a strong upper limit of infrared luminosity ≲9 × 108L⊙. Targeting this strongly lensed faint galaxy for follow-up Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and JWST observations will be crucial to characterize the details of typical galaxy growth in the early Universe.
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| 3. |
- Fujimoto, Seiji, et al.
(author)
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ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey: Bright [C ii] 158 mu m Lines from a Multiply Imaged Sub-L* Galaxy at z=6.0719
- 2021
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 911:2
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present bright [C ii] 158 mu m line detections from a strongly magnified and multiply imaged (mu similar to 20-160) sub-L* (MUV=-19.75-0.44+0.55) Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) at z = 6.0719 +/- 0.0004, drawn from the ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey (ALCS). Emission lines are identified at 268.7 GHz at >= 8 sigma exactly at the positions of two multiple images of the LBG, behind the massive galaxy cluster RXCJ0600-2007. Our lens models, updated with the latest spectroscopy from VLT/MUSE, indicate that a sub region of the LBG crosses the caustic, and is lensed into a long (similar to 6 '') arc with a local magnification of mu similar to 160, for which the [C ii] line is also significantly detected. The source plane reconstruction resolves the interstellar medium (ISM) structure, showing that the [C ii] line is co-spatial with the rest-frame UV continuum at a scale of similar to 300 pc. The [C ii] line properties suggest that the LBG is a rotation-dominated system, whose velocity gradient explains a slight difference in redshifts between the whole LBG and its sub-region. The star formation rate (SFR)-L-[CII] relations, for whole and sub-regions of the LBG, are consistent with those of local galaxies. We evaluate the lower limit of the faint-end of the [C ii] luminosity function at z = 6, finding it to be consistent with predictions from semi-analytical models and from the local SFR-L-[CII] relation with a SFR function at z = 6. These results imply that the local SFR-L-[CII] relation is universal for a wide range of scales, including the spatially resolved ISM, the whole region of the galaxy, and the cosmic scale, even in the epoch of reionization.
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| 4. |
- Hsiao, Tiger Yu-Yang, et al.
(author)
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JWST Reveals a Possible z similar to 11 Galaxy Merger in Triply Lensed MACS0647-JD
- 2023
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 949:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- MACS0647-JD is a triply lensed z similar to 11 galaxy originally discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope. The three lensed images are magnified by factors of similar to 8, 5, and 2 to AB mag 25.1, 25.6, and 26.6 at 3.5 mu m. The brightest is over a magnitude brighter than other galaxies recently discovered at similar redshifts z > 10 with JWST. Here, we report new JWST imaging that clearly resolves MACS0647-JD as having two components that are either merging galaxies or stellar complexes within a single galaxy. The brighter larger component "A" is intrinsically very blue (ss similar to-2.6 +/- 0.1), likely due to very recent star formation and no dust, and is spatially extended with an effective radius similar to 70 +/- 24 pc. The smaller component "B" (r similar to 20-+ 58 pc) appears redder (ss similar to-2 +/- 0.2), likely because it is older (100-200 Myr) with mild dust extinction (AV similar to 0.1 mag). With an estimated stellar mass ratio of roughly 2:1 and physical projected separation similar to 400 pc, we may be witnessing a galaxy merger 430 million years after the Big Bang. We identify galaxies with similar colors in a high-redshift simulation, finding their star formation histories to be dissimilar, which is also suggested by the spectral energy distribution fitting, suggesting they formed further apart. We also identify a candidate companion galaxy "C" similar to 3 kpc away, likely destined to merge with A and B. Upcoming JWST Near Infrared Spectrograph observations planned for 2023 January will deliver spectroscopic redshifts and more physical properties for these tiny magnified distant galaxies observed in the early universe.
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| 5. |
- Jolly, Jean Baptiste, 1990, et al.
(author)
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ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey: A spectral stacking analysis of [C II] in lensed z similar to 6 galaxies
- 2021
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 652
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The properties of galaxies at redshift z>6 hold the key to our understanding of the early stages of galaxy evolution and can potentially identify the sources of the ultraviolet radiation that give rise to the epoch of reionisation. The far-infrared cooling line of [C II] at 158 mu m is known to be bright and correlate with the star formation rate (SFR) of low-redshift galaxies, and hence is also suggested to be an important tracer of star formation and interstellar medium properties for very high-redshift galaxies. Aims. With the aim to study the interstellar medium properties of gravitationally lensed galaxies at z>6, we search for [C II] and thermal dust emission in a sample of 52 > 6 galaxies observed by the ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey. Methods. We perform our analysis using LINESTACKER, stacking both [C II] and continuum emission. The target sample is selected from multiple catalogues, and the sample galaxies have spectroscopic redshift or low-uncertainty photometric redshifts (sigma(z)<0.02) in nine galaxy clusters. Source properties of the target galaxies are either extracted from the literature or computed using spectral energy distribution fitting. Both weighted-average and median stacking are used, on both the full sample and three sub-samples. Results. Our analyses find no detection of either [C II] or continuum. An upper limit on L-[CII] is derived, implying that [C II] remains marginally consistent for low-SFR z>6 galaxies but likely is under-luminous compared to the local L-[CII]-SFR relationship. We discuss potential biases and possible physical effects that may be the cause of the non-detection. Further, the upper limit on the dust continuum implies that less than half of the star formation is obscured.
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| 6. |
- Kelly, Patrick L., et al.
(author)
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Constraints on the Hubble constant from supernova Refsdal's reappearance
- 2023
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In: Science. - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 380:6649
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The gravitationally lensed supernova Refsdal appeared in multiple images produced through gravitational lensing by a massive foreground galaxy cluster. After the supernova appeared in 2014, lens models of the galaxy cluster predicted that an additional image of the supernova would appear in 2015, which was subsequently observed. We use the time delays between the images to perform a blinded measurement of the expansion rate of the Universe, quantified by the Hubble constant (H0). Using eight cluster lens models, we infer kilometers per second per megaparsec. Using the two models most consistent with the observations, we find kilometers per second per megaparsec. The observations are best reproduced by models that assign dark-matter halos to individual galaxies and the overall cluster.
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| 7. |
- Meena, Ashish Kumar, et al.
(author)
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Two Lensed Star Candidates at z similar or equal to 4.8 behind the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0647.7+7015
- 2023
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 944:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the discovery of two extremely magnified lensed star candidates behind the galaxy cluster MACS J0647.7+015 using recent multiband James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam observations. The star candidates are seen in a previously known, z (phot) similar or equal to 4.8 dropout giant arc that straddles the critical curve. The candidates lie near the expected critical curve position, but lack clear counter-images on the other side of it, suggesting these are possibly stars undergoing caustic crossings. We present revised lensing models for the cluster, including multiply imaged galaxies newly identified in the JWST data, and use them to estimate background macro-magnifications of at least greater than or similar to 90 and greater than or similar to 50 at the positions of the two candidates, respectively. With these values, we expect effective, caustic-crossing magnifications of similar to[10(3)-10(5)] for the two star candidates. The spectral energy distributions of the two candidates match well the spectra of B-type stars with best-fit surface temperatures of similar to 10,000 K, and similar to 12,000 K, respectively, and we show that such stars with masses greater than or similar to 20 M (circle dot) and greater than or similar to 50 M (circle dot), respectively, can become sufficiently magnified to be observable. We briefly discuss other alternative explanations and conclude that these objects are likely lensed stars, but also acknowledge that the less-magnified candidate may alternatively reside in a star cluster. These star candidates constitute the second highest-redshift examples to date after Earendel at z (phot) similar or equal to 6.2, establishing further the potential of studying extremely magnified stars at high redshifts with JWST. Planned future observations, including with NIRSpec, will enable a more detailed view of these candidates in the near future.
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| 8. |
- Meena, Ashish Kumar, et al.
(author)
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Two Lensed Star Candidates at z ≃ 4.8 behind the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0647.7+7015
- 2023
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 944:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the discovery of two extremely magnified lensed star candidates behind the galaxy cluster MACS J0647.7+015 using recent multiband James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam observations. The star candidates are seen in a previously known, zphot ≃ 4.8 dropout giant arc that straddles the critical curve. The candidates lie near the expected critical curve position, but lack clear counter-images on the other side of it, suggesting these are possibly stars undergoing caustic crossings. We present revised lensing models for the cluster, including multiply imaged galaxies newly identified in the JWST data, and use them to estimate background macro-magnifications of at least ≳90 and ≳50 at the positions of the two candidates, respectively. With these values, we expect effective, caustic-crossing magnifications of ∼[103–105] for the two star candidates. The spectral energy distributions of the two candidates match well the spectra of B-type stars with best-fit surface temperatures of ∼10,000 K, and ∼12,000 K, respectively, and we show that such stars with masses ≳20 M⊙ and ≳50 M⊙, respectively, can become sufficiently magnified to be observable. We briefly discuss other alternative explanations and conclude that these objects are likely lensed stars, but also acknowledge that the less-magnified candidate may alternatively reside in a star cluster. These star candidates constitute the second highest-redshift examples to date after Earendel at zphot ≃ 6.2, establishing further the potential of studying extremely magnified stars at high redshifts with JWST. Planned future observations, including with NIRSpec, will enable a more detailed view of these candidates in the near future.
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| 9. |
- Nabizadeh, Armin, et al.
(author)
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A search for high-redshift direct-collapse black hole candidates in the PEARLS north ecliptic pole field
- 2024
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 683
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) of mass ∼ 104-105 M⊙ that form in HI-cooling halos in the early Universe are promising progenitors of the greater than or similar to 109 M⊙ supermassive black holes that fuel observed z greater than or similar to 7 quasars. Efficient accretion of the surrounding gas onto such DCBH seeds may render them sufficiently bright for detection with the JWST up to z ≈ 20. Additionally, the very steep and red spectral slope predicted across the ≈ 1-5 μm wavelength range of the JWST/NIRSpec instrument during their initial growth phase should make them photometrically identifiable up to very high redshifts. In this work, we present a search for such DCBH candidates across the 34 arcmin2 in the first two spokes of the JWST cycle-1 PEARLS survey of the north ecliptic pole time-domain field covering eight NIRCam filters down to a maximum depth of ∼ 29 AB mag. We identify two objects with spectral energy distributions consistent with the Pacucci et al. (2016) DCBH models. However, we also note that even with data in eight NIRCam filters, objects of this type remain degenerate with dusty galaxies and obscured active galactic nuclei over a wide range of redshifts. Follow-up spectroscopy would be required to pin down the nature of these objects. Based on our sample of DCBH candidates and assumptions on the typical duration of the DCBH steep-slope state, we set a conservative upper limit of less than or similar to 5x10-4 comoving Mpc-3 (cMpc-3) on the comoving density of host halos capable of hosting DCBHs with spectral energy distributions similar to the Pacucci et al. (2016) models at z ≈ 6-14.
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| 10. |
- Rydberg, Claes-Erik, et al.
(author)
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A multiply imaged z similar to 6.3 Lyman a emitter candidate behind Abell 2261
- 2017
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 467:1, s. 768-777
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While the Lyman alpha (Ly alpha) emission line serves as an important tool in the study of galaxies at z less than or similar to 6, finding Ly a emitters (LAE) at significantly higher redshifts has been more challenging, probably because of the increasing neutrality of the intergalactic medium above z similar to 6. Galaxies with extremely high rest-frame Ly alpha equivalent widths, EW(Ly alpha) greater than or similar to 150 A degrees, at z > 6, are good candidates for Ly alpha follow-up observations, and can stand out in multiband imaging surveys because of their unusual colours. We have conducted a photometric search for such objects in the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), and report here the identification of three likely gravitationally lensed images of a single LAE candidate at z-6.3, behind the galaxy cluster Abell 2261 (z=0.225). In the process, we also measured with Keck/Multi-Object Spectrometer For Infra-Red Exploration the first spectroscopic redshift of a multiply imaged galaxy behind Abell 2261, at z=3.337. This allows us to calibrate the lensing model, which, in turn, is used to study the properties of the candidate LAE. Population III galaxy spectral energy distribution model fits to the CLASH broad-band photometry of the possible LAE provide a slightly better fit than Population I/II models. The best-fitting model suggests intrinsic EW(Ly alpha) approximate to 160 A degrees after absorption in the interstellar and intergalactic medium. Future spectroscopic observations will examine this prediction as well as shed more light on the morphology of this object, which indicates that it may be a merger of two smaller galaxies.
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