Big Three Dragons: Molecular Gas in a Bright Lyman-break Galaxy at z = 7.15
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2023

We report Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3 observations of CO(6−5), CO(7−6), and [C i](2−1) in B14-65666 (“Big Three Dragons”), one of the brightest Lyman-break galaxies at z > 7 in the rest-frame ultraviolet continuum, far-infrared continuum, and emission lines of [O iii] 88 μm and [C ii] 158 μm. CO(6−5), CO(7−6), and [C i](2−1), whose 3σ upper limits on the luminosities are approximately 40 times fainter than the [C ii] luminosity, are all not detected. The L [C II]/L CO(6-5) and L [C II]/L CO(7-6) ratios are higher than the typical ratios obtained in dusty star-forming galaxies or quasar host galaxies at similar redshifts, and they may suggest a lower gas density in the photodissociated region in B14-65666. By using the (1) [C ii] luminosity, (2) dust mass-to-gas mass ratio, and (3) a dynamical mass estimate, we find that the molecular gas mass (M mol) is (0.05-11) × 1010 M ⊙. This value is consistent with the upper limit inferred from the nondetection of mid-J CO and [C i](2−1). Despite the large uncertainty in M mol, we estimate a molecular gas-to-stellar mass ratio (μ gas) of 0.65-140 and a gas depletion time (τ dep) of 2.5-550 Myr; these values are broadly consistent with those of other high-redshift galaxies. B14-65666 could be an ancestor of a passive galaxy at z ≳ 4 if no gas is fueled from outside the galaxy.

Författare

Takuya Hashimoto

University of Tsukuba

Akio K. Inoue

Waseda University

Yuma Sugahara

Waseda University

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Yoshinobu Fudamoto

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Waseda University

S. Fujimoto

Niels Bohr Institute

Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)

The University of Texas at Austin

Kirsten Knudsen

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik

Hiroshi Matsuo

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Y. Tamura

Nagoya University

Satoshi Yamanaka

National Institute of Technology, Toba College

Yuichi Harikane

University of Tokyo

University College London (UCL)

N. Kuno

University of Tsukuba

Yoshiaki Ono

University of Tokyo

Dragan Salak

Hokkaido University

Nozomi Ishii

University of Tsukuba

Astrophysical Journal

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

Vol. 952 1 48

Ämneskategorier

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

Atom- och molekylfysik och optik

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/acdd5c

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2023-08-08