Characterization of Two 2 mm detected Optically Obscured Dusty Star-forming Galaxies
Journal article, 2022

The 2 mm Mapping Obscuration to Reionization with ALMA (MORA) Survey was designed to detect high-redshift (z greater than or similar to 4), massive, dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). Here we present two likely high-redshift sources, identified in the survey, whose physical characteristics are consistent with a class of optical/near-infrared (OIR)-invisible DSFGs found elsewhere in the literature. We first perform a rigorous analysis of all available photometric data to fit spectral energy distributions and estimate redshifts before deriving physical properties based on our findings. Our results suggest the two galaxies, called MORA-5 and MORA-9, represent two extremes of the "OIR-dark" class of DSFGs. MORA-5 (z(phot) = 4.3(-1.3)(+1.5)) is a significantly more active starburst with a star formation rate (SFR) of 830(-190)(+340) M-circle dot yr(-1) compared to MORA-9 (z(phot) = 4.3(-1.0)(+1.3)), whose SFR is a modest 200(-60)(+250) M-circle dot yr(-1). Based on the stellar masses (M-star approximate to 10(10-11) M-circle dot), space density (n similar to (5 +/- 2) x 10(-6) Mpc(-3), which incorporates two other spectroscopically confirmed OIR-dark DSFGs in the MORA sample at z = 4.6 and z = 5.9), and gas depletion timescales (<1 Gyr) of these sources, we find evidence supporting the theory that OIR-dark DSFGs are the progenitors of recently discovered 3 < z < 4 massive quiescent galaxies.

Author

Sinclaire M. Manning

University of Massachusetts

The University of Texas at Austin

Caitlin M. Casey

The University of Texas at Austin

Jorge A. Zavala

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

The University of Texas at Austin

Georgios E. Magdis

University of Copenhagen

Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Patrick M. Drew

The University of Texas at Austin

Jaclyn B. Champagne

The University of Texas at Austin

Manuel Aravena

Diego Portales University

Matthieu Bethermin

Aix Marseille University

David L. Clements

Imperial College London

Steven L. Finkelstein

The University of Texas at Austin

Seiji Fujimoto

University of Copenhagen

Christopher C. Hayward

Flatiron Institute

Jacqueline A. Hodge

Leiden University

Olivier Ilbert

Aix Marseille University

Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe

Rochester Institute of Technology

Kirsten Kraiberg Knudsen

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

Anton M. Koekemoer

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Allison W. S. Man

University of British Columbia (UBC)

Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics

David B. Sanders

University of Hawaii

Kartik Sheth

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Justin S. Spilker

The University of Texas at Austin

Johannes Staguhn

Johns Hopkins University

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Margherita Talia

University of Bologna

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Ezequiel Treister

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

Min S. Yun

University of Massachusetts

Astrophysical Journal

0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)

Vol. 925 1 23

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Other Physics Topics

Probability Theory and Statistics

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/ac366a

More information

Latest update

9/15/2023