Evidence for Large-Scale Structure at z=2.4 From Lyman-alpha Imaging

Abstract

We present deep wide-field medium-band imaging in redshifted Lyman alpha of fields surrounding HST detections of faint emitters, to characterize their larger-scale environment. The radio galaxy 53W002 was previously found to be part of a rich grouping at z=2.39, including 5 confirmed, compact, star-forming objects. This is now shown to be part of a larger structure traced by bright AGN, all contained within a projected span of 6.8 arcmin (3.2 Mpc). Of the 14 candidate emitters, six have been spectroscopically confirmed as active nuclei in the range z=2.390 +/- 0.008. Various statistical tests give a significance of 95-99% for the reality of this structure on the sky. This grouping is more extended than a relaxed King model, at the 90% confidence level. Either this configuration has yet to decouple fully from the Hubble expansion, or it consists of subgroups which will themselves form a more compact, relaxed structure. The redshift range for measured members is comparable to the Hubble flow across the structure, which may imply that the structure is seen near turnaround. We surveyed two additional fields at z=2.4, and three contiguous fields at z=2.6. Only a single candidate at z=2.4 was found, with six at z=2.6. Comparison with the WFPC2 surveys suggests that the field-to-field contrast is larger for brighter objects. From this survey alone, groupings such as the 53W002 "cluster" must have an area covering fraction <0.04 in this redshift range.