Riechers, Dominik A. and Capak, Peter L. and Carilli, Christopher L. and Cox, Pierre and Neri, Roberto and Scoville, Nicholas Z. and Schinnerer, Eva and Bertoldi, Frank and Yan, Lin (2010) A Massive Molecular Gas Reservoir in the z = 5.3 Submillimeter Galaxy AzTEC-3. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 720 (2). L131-L136. ISSN 2041-8205. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/720/2/L131. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100927-105114318
![]()
|
PDF
- Published Version
See Usage Policy. 534kB | |
![]() |
PDF
- Accepted Version
See Usage Policy. 449kB |
Use this Persistent URL to link to this item: https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100927-105114318
Abstract
We report the detection of CO J = 2→1, 5→4, and 6→5 emission in the highest-redshift submillimeter galaxy (SMG) AzTEC-3 at z = 5.298, using the Expanded Very Large Array and the Plateau de Bure Interferometer. These observations ultimately confirm the redshift, making AzTEC-3 the most submillimeter-luminous galaxy in a massive z ≃ 5.3 protocluster structure in the COSMOS field. The strength of the CO line emission reveals a large molecular gas reservoir with a mass of 5.3 × 10^(10)(α_(CO)/0.8) M_☉ sun, which can maintain the intense 1800 M_☉ sun yr^(–1) starburst in this system for at least 30 Myr, increasing the stellar mass by up to a factor of six in the process. This gas mass is comparable to "typical" z ~ 2 SMGs and constitutes ≳80% of the baryonic mass (gas+stars) and 30%-80% of the total (dynamical) mass in this galaxy. The molecular gas reservoir has a radius of <4 kpc and likely consists of a "diffuse", low-excitation component, containing (at least) 1/3 of the gas mass (depending on the relative conversion factor αCO), and a "dense", high-excitation component, containing ~2/3 of the mass. The likely presence of a substantial diffuse component besides highly excited gas suggests different properties between the star-forming environments in z > 4 SMGs and z > 4 quasar host galaxies, which perhaps trace different evolutionary stages. The discovery of a massive, metal-enriched gas reservoir in an SMG at the heart of a large z = 5.3 protocluster considerably enhances our understanding of early massive galaxy formation, pushing back to a cosmic epoch where the universe was less than 1/12 of its present age.
Item Type: | Article | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Related URLs: |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
ORCID: |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Additional Information: | © 2010 American Astronomical Society. Received 2010 June 28; accepted 2010 July 30; published 2010 August 16. We thank Josh Younger for the SMA image of AzTEC-3, Christian Henkel for the original version of the LVG code, and the referee for a helpful report. D.R. acknowledges support from NASA through Hubble Fellowship grant HST-HF-51235.01 awarded by STScI, operated by AURA for NASA, under contract NAS 5-26555. The IRAM PdBI is supported by INSU/CNRS (France),MPG (Germany), and IGN (Spain). The EVLA is a facility of NRAO, operated by AUI, under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Group: | COSMOS, Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Funders: |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Subject Keywords: | cosmology: observations; galaxies: active; galaxies: formation; galaxies: high-redshift; galaxies: starburst; radio lines: galaxies | ||||||||||||||||||||
Issue or Number: | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Classification Code: | PACS: 98.54.Ep; 98.62.Ai; 98.62.Qz; 95.85.Bh; 98.62.Py; 98.62.Bj | ||||||||||||||||||||
DOI: | 10.1088/2041-8205/720/2/L131 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Record Number: | CaltechAUTHORS:20100927-105114318 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Persistent URL: | https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100927-105114318 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Official Citation: | Dominik A. Riechers et al 2010 ApJ 720 L131 doi: 10.1088/2041-8205/720/2/L131 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Usage Policy: | No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided. | ||||||||||||||||||||
ID Code: | 20157 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Collection: | CaltechAUTHORS | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deposited By: | INVALID USER | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deposited On: | 27 Sep 2010 23:18 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Last Modified: | 08 Nov 2021 23:57 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page