Diffuse Dark and Bright Objects in the Hubble Deep Field

Abstract

In the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) we have identified candidate regions where primordial galaxies might be forming. These regions are identified from negative or positive peaks in the difference maps obtained from the HDF maps smoothed over 0.8'' and 4''. They have apparent V magnitudes typically between 29 and 31 (missing flux below the local average level for the dark objects). The identified objects are shown to be real by two ways. First, the cross-correlations of these peaks detected in different filters are strong. Second, their auto-correlation functions indicate that these faint diffuse objects are self-clustered. The subset of objects dark in the F450W and F606W bandpasses, but bright in F814W, also shows stronger correlation compared to the whole dark sample. This further supports that our samples are indeed physical objects. The amplitude and slope of the angular correlation function of the bright objects indicates that these objects are ancestors of the present nearby bright galaxies. We have inspected individual bright objects and noted that they have several tiny spots embedded in extended backgrounds. They are likely to be the primordial galaxies at high redshifts in the process of active star formation and merging. Our subset of dark objects is thought to be the `intergalactic dark clouds' he blocking the background far UV light (at the rest frame) at high redshifts instead of empty spaces between the first galaxies at the edge of the universe of galaxies.