| 1. |
- Ferreras, Ignacio, et al.
(author)
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FIGS : spectral fitting constraints on the star formation history of massive galaxies since the cosmic noon
- 2019
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 486:1, s. 1358-1376
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We constrain the stellar population properties of a sample of 52 massive galaxies - with stellar mass log (M-s/M-circle dot) greater than or similar to 10.5 - over the redshift range 0.5 < z < 2 by use of observer-frame optical and near-infrared slitless spectra from Hubble Space Telescope's ACS and WFC3 grisms. The deep exposures (similar to 100 ks) allow us to target individual spectra of massive galaxies to F160W = 22.5AB. Our spectral fitting approach uses a set of six base models adapted to the redshift and spectral resolution of each observation, and fits the weights of the base models, including potential dust attenuation, via a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. Our sample comprises a mixed distribution of quiescent (19) and star-forming galaxies (33). We quantify the width of the age distribution (Delta t) that is found to dominate the variance of the retrieved parameters according to principal component analysis. The population parameters follow the expected trend towards older ages with increasing mass, and Delta t appears to weakly anticorrelate with stellar mass, suggesting a more efficient star formation at the massive end. As expected, the redshift dependence of the relative stellar age (measured in units of the age of the Universe at the source) in the quiescent sample rejects the hypothesis of a single burst (aka monolithic collapse). Radial colour gradients within each galaxy are also explored, finding a wider scatter in the star-forming subsample, but no conclusive trend with respect to the population parameters.
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| 2. |
- Larson, Rebecca L., et al.
(author)
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Discovery of a z=7.452 High Equivalent Width Ly alpha Emitter from the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Infrared Grism Survey
- 2018
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 858:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the results of an unbiased search for Ly alpha emission from continuum-selected 5.6 < z < 8.7 galaxies. Our data set consists of 160 orbits of G102 slitless grism spectroscopy obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFC3 as part of the Faint Infrared Grism Survey (FIGS; PI: Malhotra), which obtains deep slitless spectra of all sources in four fields, and was designed to minimize contamination in observations of previously identified high-redshift galaxy candidates. The FIGS data can potentially spectroscopically confirm the redshifts of galaxies, and as Ly alpha emission is resonantly scattered by neutral gas, FIGS can also constrain the ionization state of the intergalactic medium during the epoch of reionization. These data have sufficient depth to detect Ly alpha emission in this epoch, as Tilvi et al. have published the FIGS detection of previously known Ly alpha emission at z = 7.51. The FIGS data use five separate roll angles of HST to mitigate the contamination by nearby galaxies. We created a method that accounts for and removes the contamination from surrounding galaxies and also removes any dispersed continuum light from each individual spectrum. We searched for significant (>4 sigma) emission lines using two different automated detection methods, free of any visual inspection biases. Applying these methods on photometrically selected high-redshift candidates between 5.6 < z < 8.7, we find two emission lines, one previously published by Tilvi et al., (2016) and a new line at 1.028 mu m, which we identify as Ly alpha at z = 7.452 +/- 0.003. This newly spectroscopically confirmed galaxy has the highest Ly alpha rest-frame equivalent width (EWLy alpha) yet published at z > 7 (140.3 +/- 19.0 ångström).
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| 3. |
- Pharo, John, et al.
(author)
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Emission-line Metallicities from the Faint Infrared Grism Survey and VLT/MUSE
- 2019
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 874:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We derive direct-measurement gas-phase metallicities of 7.4 < 12 + log (O/H) < 8.4 for 14 low-mass emissionline galaxies at 0.3 < z < 0.8 identified in the Faint Infrared Grism Survey. We use deep slitless G102 grism spectroscopy of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, dispersing light from all objects in the field at wavelengths between 0.85 and 1.15 mu m. We run an automatic search routine on these spectra to robustly identify 71 emission-line sources, using archival data from Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) to measure additional lines and confirm redshifts. We identify 14 objects with 0.3 < z < 0.8 with measurable [O Iota Iota Iota] lambda 4363 angstrom emission lines in matching VLT/MUSE spectra. For these galaxies, we derive direct electron-temperature gas-phase metallicities with a range of 7.4 < 12 + log (O/H) < 8.4. With matching stellar masses in the range of 10(7.9) M-circle dot < M* < 10(10.4) M-circle dot, we construct a mass-metallicity (MZ) relation and find that the relation is offset to lower metallicities compared to metallicities derived from alternative methods (e.g., R-23,O3N2, N2O2) and continuum selected samples. Using star formation rates derived from the H alpha emission line, we calculate our galaxies' position on the Fundamental Metallicity Relation, where we also find an offset toward lower metallicities. This demonstrates that this emission-line-selected sample probes objects of low stellar masses but even lower metallicities than many comparable surveys. We detect a trend suggesting galaxies with higher Specific Star Formation (SSFR) are more likely to have lower metallicity. This could be due to cold accretion of metal-poor gas that drives star formation, or could be because outflows of metal-rich stellar winds and SNe ejecta are more common in galaxies with higher SSFR.
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| 4. |
- Pirzkal, Norbert, et al.
(author)
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A Two-dimensional Spectroscopic Study of Emission-line Galaxies in the Faint Infrared Grism Survey (FIGS). I. Detection Method and Catalog
- 2018
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 868:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the results from the application of a two-dimensional emission line detection method, EMission-line two-Dimensional (EM2D), to the near-infrared G102 grism observations obtained with the Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3) as part of the Cycle 22 Hubble Space Telescope Treasury Program: the Faint Infrared Grism Survey (FIGS). Using the EM2D method, we have assembled a catalog of emission line galaxies (ELGs) with resolved star formation from each of the four FIGS fields. Not only can one better assess the global properties of ELGs, but the EM2D method allows for the analysis and improved study of the individual emission-line region within each galaxy. This paper includes a description of the methodology, advantages, and the first results of the EM2D method applied to ELGs in FIGS. The advantage of 2D emission line measurements includes significant improvement of galaxy redshift measurements, approaching the level of accuracy seen in high-spectral-resolution data, but with greater efficiency; and the ability to identify and measure the properties of multiple sites of star formation and over scales of similar to 1 kpc within individual galaxies out to z similar to 4. The EM2D method also significantly improves the reliability of high-redshift (z similar to 7) Ly alpha detections. Coupled with the wide field of view and high efficiency of space-based grism observations, EM2D provides a noteworthy improvement on the physical parameters that can be extracted from grism observations.
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| 5. |
- Pirzkal, Norbert, et al.
(author)
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FIGS-Faint Infrared Grism Survey : Description and Data Reduction
- 2017
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 846:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Faint Infrared Grism Survey (FIGS) is a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/IR (Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared) slitless spectroscopic survey of four deep fields. Two fields are located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North (GOODS-N) area and two fields are located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-South (GOODS-S) area. One of the southern fields selected is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Each of these four fields were observed using the WFC3/G102 grism (0.8 mu m-1.15 mu m continuous coverage) with a total exposure time of 40 orbits (approximate to 100 kilo-seconds) per field. This reaches a 3 sigma continuum depth of approximate to 26 AB magnitudes and probes emission lines to similar to 10(-17) erg s(-1) cm(-2). This paper details the four FIGS fields and the overall observational strategy of the project. A detailed description of the Simulation Based Extraction (SBE) method used to extract and combine over 10,000 spectra of over 2000 distinct sources brighter than m(F105W) = 26.5 mag is provided. High fidelity simulations of the observations is shown to significantly improve the background subtraction process, the spectral contamination estimates, and the final flux calibration. This allows for the combination of multiple spectra to produce a final high quality, deep, 1D spectra for each object in the survey.
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