Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys Observations of the z=6.42 Quasar SDSS 1148+5251: A Leak in the Gunn-Peterson Trough

Abstract

The Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys has been used to obtain a narrow-band image of the weak emission peak seen at lambda=7205 A in the Gunn-Peterson Ly beta absorption trough of the highest redshift quasar, SDSS J1148+5251. The emission looks perfectly point-like; there is no evidence for the intervening galaxy that we previously suggested might be contaminating the quasar spectrum. We derive a more accurate astrometric position for the quasar in the two filters and see no indication of gravitational lensing. We conclude that the light in the Ly beta trough is leaking through two unusually transparent, overlapping windows in the IGM absorption, one in the Ly beta forest at z ~ 6 and one in the Ly alpha forest at z ~ 5. If there are significant optical depth variations on velocity scales small compared with our spectral resolution (~150 km/s), the Ly alpha trough becomes more transparent for a given Ly beta optical depth. Such variations can only strengthen our conclusion that the fraction of neutral hydrogen in the IGM increases dramatically at z>6. We argue that the transmission in the Ly beta trough is not only a more sensitive measure of the neutral fraction than is Ly alpha, it also provides a less biased estimator of the neutral hydrogen fraction than does the Ly alpha transmission.