| 1. |
- Vanzella, E., et al.
(author)
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An extremely metal-poor star complex in the reionization era : Approaching Population III stars with JWST
- 2023
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 678
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present JWST/Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) integral field spectroscopy (IFS) of a lensed Population III candidate stellar complex (dubbed Lensed And Pristine 1, LAP1), with a lensing-corrected stellar mass of ≲104 M⊙ and an absolute luminosity of MUV > −11.2 (mUV > 35.6), confirmed at redshift 6.639 ± 0.004. The system is strongly amplified (μ ≳ 100) by straddling a critical line of the Hubble Frontier Field galaxy cluster MACS J0416. Although the stellar continuum is currently not detected in the Hubble and JWST/Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) imaging, arclet-like shapes of Lyman and Balmer lines, Lyα, Hγ, Hβ and Hα are detected with NIRSpec IFS with signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) of approximately 5 − 13 and large equivalent widths (> 300 − 2000 Å), along with a remarkably weak [O III]λλ4959, 5007 at S/N ≃ 4. LAP1 shows a large ionizing photon production efficiency, log(ξion[erg Hz−1]) > 26. From the metallicity indexes R23 = ([O III] + [O II])/Hβ ≲ 0.74 and R3 = ([O III]/Hβ) = 0.55 ± 0.14, we derive an oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H)≲6.3. Intriguingly, the Hα emission is also measured in mirrored subcomponents where no [O III] is detected, providing even more stringent upper limits on the metallicity if in situ star formation is ongoing in this region (12 + log(O/H) < 6). The formal stellar mass limit of the subcomponents would correspond to ∼103 M⊙ or MUV fainter than −10. Alternatively, this metal-free, pure line-emitting region could be the first case of a fluorescing H I gas region induced by transverse escaping ionizing radiation from a nearby star complex. The presence of large equivalent-width hydrogen lines and the deficiency of metal lines in such a small region make LAP1 the most metal-poor star-forming region currently known in the reionization era and a promising site that may host isolated, pristine stars.
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| 2. |
- Mobasher, B., et al.
(author)
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Photometric redshifts of galaxies in COSMOS
- 2007
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In: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 172:1, s. 117-131
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present photometric redshifts for the COSMOS survey derived from a new code, optimized to yield accurate and reliable redshifts and spectral types of galaxies down to faint magnitudes and redshifts out to z similar to 1.2. The technique uses chi (2) template fitting, combined with luminosity function priors and with the option to estimate the internal extinction [ or E( B-V)]. The median most probable redshift, best-fit spectral type and reddening, absolute magnitude, and stellarmass are derived in addition to the full redshift probability distributions. Using simulations with sampling and noise similar to those in COSMOS, the accuracy and reliability is estimated for the photometric redshifts as a function of the magnitude limits of the sample, S/N ratios, and the number of bands used. We find from the simulations that the ratio of derived 95% confidence interval in the chi (2) probability distribution to the estimated photometric redshift (D-95) can be used to identify and exclude the catastrophic failures in the photometric redshift estimates. To evaluate the reliability of the photometric redshifts, we compare the derived redshifts with high-reliability spectroscopic redshifts for a sample of 868 normal galaxies with z < 1: 2 from zCOSMOS. Considering different scenarios, depending on using prior, no prior, and/or extinction, we compare the photometric and spectroscopic redshifts for this sample. The rms scatter between the estimated photometric redshifts and known spectroscopic redshifts is sigma(Delta( z))= 0. 031, where Delta(z) ( z(phot) - z(spec))/( 1+ z(spec)) with a small fraction of outliers (< 2.5%) [ outliers are defined as objects with Delta( z) > 3 sigma(Delta( z)), where sigma(Delta(z)) is the rms scatter in Delta( z)]. We also find good agreement [sigma(Delta(z))= 0.10] between photometric and spectroscopic redshifts for type II AGNs. We compare results fromour photometric redshift procedure with three other independent codes and find them in excellent agreement. We show preliminary results, based on photometric redshifts for the entire COSMOS sample ( to i < 25 mag).
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| 3. |
- Talia, M., et al.
(author)
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ALMA view of a massive spheroid progenitor : a compact rotating core of molecular gas in an AGN host at z=2.226
- 2018
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 476:3, s. 3956-3963
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present ALMA observations at 107.291 GHz (band 3) and 214.532 GHz (band 6) of GMASS 0953, a star-forming galaxy at z = 2.226 hosting an obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN) that has been proposed as a progenitor of compact quiescent galaxies (QGs). We measure for the first time the size of the dust and molecular gas emission of GMASS 0953 that we find to be extremely compact (similar to 1 kpc). This result, coupled with a very high interstellar medium (ISM) density (n similar to 10(5.5) cm(-3)), a low gas mass fraction (similar to 0.2), and a short gas depletion time-scale (similar to 150 Myr), implies that GMASS 0953 is experiencing an episode of intense star formation in its central region that will rapidly exhaust its gas reservoirs, likely aided by AGN-induced feedback, confirming its fate as a compact QG. Kinematic analysis of the CO(6-5) line shows evidence of rapidly rotating gas (V-rot = 320(-53)(+92) km s(-1)), as observed also in a handful of similar sources at the same redshift. On-going quenching mechanisms could either destroy the rotation or leave it intact leading the galaxy to evolve into a rotating QG.
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