JWST and ALMA Multiple-line Study in and around a Galaxy at z=8.496: Optical to Far-Infrared Line Ratios and the Onset of an Outflow Promoting Ionizing Photon Escape
Journal article, 2024

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) deep spectroscopy for a lensed galaxy at z(spec) = 8.496 with log(M-star/M-circle dot) similar to 7.8 whose optical nebular lines and stellar continuum are detected by JWST/NIRSpec and NIRCam Early Release Observations in the field of SMACS J0723.3-7327. Our ALMA spectrum shows [O III] 88 mu m and [C II] 158 mu m line detections at 4.0 sigma and 4.5 sigma, respectively. The redshift and position of the [O III] line coincide with those of the JWST source, while the [C II] line is blueshifted by 90 km s(-1) with a spatial offset of 0.'' 5 (approximate to 0.5 kpc in the source plane) from the centroid of the JWST source. The NIRCam F444W image, including [O III] lambda 5007 and H beta line emission, spatially extends beyond the stellar components by a factor of >8. This indicates that the z = 8.5 galaxy has already experienced strong outflows as traced by extended [O III] lambda 5007 and offset [C II] emission, which would promote ionizing photon escape and facilitate reionization. With careful slit-loss corrections and the removal of emission spatially outside the galaxy, we evaluate the [O III] 88 mu m/lambda 5007 line ratio, and derive the electron density n (e) by photoionization modeling to be 220(-130)(+230) cm(-3), which is comparable with those of z similar to 2-3 galaxies. We estimate an [O III] 88 mu m/[C II] 158 mu m line ratio in the galaxy of >4, as high as those of known z similar to 6-9 galaxies. This high [O III] 88 mu m/[C II] 158 mu m line ratio is generally explained by the high n(e) as well as the low metallicity (Z(gas)/Z(circle dot)=0.04(-0.02)(+0.02)), high ionization parameter (log U > -2.27), and low carbon-to-oxygen abundance ratio (log(C/O) = [-0.52: -0.24]) obtained from the JWST/NIRSpec data; further [C II] follow-up observations will constrain the covering fraction of photodissociation regions.

Author

Seiji Fujimoto

The University of Texas at Austin

University of Copenhagen

Masami Ouchi

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Waseda University

Kimihiko Nakajima

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Yuichi Harikane

Waseda University

Yuki Isobe

Waseda University

Gabriel Brammer

University of Copenhagen

Masamune Oguri

Chiba University

Clara Gimenez-Arteaga

University of Copenhagen

Kasper E. Heintz

University of Copenhagen

Vasily Kokorev

University of Copenhagen

Franz E. Bauer

Pontificia Univ Catolica Chile

Millennium Institute of Astrophysics

Andrea Ferrara

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa

Takashi Kojima

Waseda University

Claudia del P. Lagos

University of Copenhagen

ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D)

University of Western Australia

Sommovigo Laura

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa

Daniel Schaerer

Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

University of Geneva

Kazuhiro Shimasaku

University of Tokyo

Bunyo Hatsukade

University of Tokyo

Kotaro Kohno

University of Tokyo

Fengwu Sun

University of Arizona

Francesco Valentino

European Southern Observatory Santiago

University of Copenhagen

Darach Watson

University of Copenhagen

Yoshinobu Fudamoto

Waseda University

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Akio K. Inoue

Waseda University

Jorge Gonzalez-Lopez

Diego Portales University

Carnegie Institution of Washington

Anton M. Koekemoer

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Kirsten Knudsen

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

Minju M. Lee

University of Copenhagen

Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Georgios E. Magdis

Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

University of Copenhagen

Johan Richard

Université de Lyon

Victoria B. Strait

University of Copenhagen

Yuma Sugahara

Waseda University

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Yoichi Tamura

Nagoya University

Sune Toft

University of Copenhagen

Hideki Umehata

Nagoya University

Gregory Walth

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Astrophysical Journal

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

Vol. 964 2 146

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/ad235c

More information

Latest update

5/3/2024 8