arXiv subjects

M. J. Page

Publications and source records attributed to M. J. Page.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Traces of co-evolution in high z X-ray selected and submm-luminous QSOs

We present a detailed study of a X -ray selected sample of 5 submillimeter bright QSOs at $z\sim2$, where the highest rates of star formation (SF) and further growth of black holes (BH) occur. Therefore, this sample is a great laboratory to investigate the co-evolution of star formation and AGN. We present here the analysis of the spectral energy distributions (SED) of the 5 QSOS, including new data from Herschel PACS and SPIRE. Both AGN components (direct and reprocessed) and like Star Formation (SF) are needed to model its SED. From the SED and their UV-optical spectra we have estimated the mass of the black hole ($M_{BH} = 10^9 - 10^{10} M_{SUN}$) and bolometric luminosities of AGN ($L_{BOL} = (0.8-20) \times 10^{13} L_{SUN}$). These objects show very high luminosities in the far infrared range (at the H/ULIRG levels) and very high rates of SF (SFR = 400-1400 $M_{SUN}$/y). Known their current SFR and their BH masses, we deduce that their host galaxies must be already very massive, or would not have time to get to the local relation between BH mass and bulge. Finally, we found evidence of a possible correlation between the column density of ionized gas detected in X-rays ($NH_{ion}$) and SFR, which would provide a link between AGN and SF processes.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Linking the X-ray and infrared properties of star-forming galaxies at z<1.5

We present the most complete study to date of the X-ray emission from star-formation in high redshift (median z=0.7; z<1.5), IR-luminous (L_IR=10^10-10^13 L_sun) galaxies detected by Herschel's PACS and SPIRE instruments. For our purpose we take advantage of the deepest X-ray data to date, the Chandra deep fields (North and South). Sources which host AGN are removed from our analysis by means of multiple AGN indicators. We find an AGN fraction of 18+/-2 per cent amongst our sample and note that AGN entirely dominate at values of log[L_X/L_IR]>-3 in both hard and soft X-ray bands. From the sources which are star-formation dominated, only a small fraction are individually X-ray detected and for the bulk of the sample we calculate average X-ray luminosities through stacking. We find an average soft X-ray to infrared ratio of log[L_SX/L_IR]=-4.3 and an average hard X-ray to infrared ratio of log[L_HX/L_IR]=-3.8. We report that the X-ray/IR correlation is approximately linear through the entire range of L_IR and z probed and, although broadly consistent with the local (z<0.1) one, it does display some discrepancies. We suggest that these discrepancies are unlikely to be physical, i.e. due to an intrinsic change in the X-ray properties of star-forming galaxies with cosmic time, as there is no significant evidence for evolution of the L_X/L_IR ratio with redshift. Instead they are possibly due to selection effects and remaining AGN contamination. We also examine whether dust obscuration in the galaxy plays a role in attenuating X-rays from star-formation, by investigating changes in the L_X/L_IR ratio as a function of the average dust temperature. We conclude that X-rays do not suffer any measurable attenuation in the host galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Herschel/PACS Observations of the Host Galaxy of GRB 031203

We present Herschel/PACS observations of the nearby (z=0.1055) dwarf galaxy that has hosted the long gamma ray burst (LGRB) 031203. Using the PACS data we have been able to place constraints on the dust temperature, dust mass, total infrared luminosity and infrared-derived star-formation rate (SFR) for this object. We find that the GRB host galaxy (GRBH) 031203 has a total infrared luminosity of 3x10^10 L_sun placing it in the regime of the IR-luminous galaxy population. Its dust temperature and specific SFR are comparable to that of many high-redshift (z=0.3-2.5) infrared (IR)-detected GRB hosts (T_dust>40K ; sSFR>10 Gyr^-1), however its dust-to-stellar mass ratio is lower than what is commonly seen in IR-luminous galaxies. Our results suggest that GRBH 031203 is undergoing a strong starburst episode and its dust properties are different to those of local dwarf galaxies within the same metallicity and stellar mass range. Furthermore, our measurements place it in a distinct class to the well studied nearby host of GRB 980425 (z=0.0085), confirming the notion that GRB host galaxies can span a large range in properties even at similar cosmological epochs, making LGRBs an ideal tool in selecting samples of star-forming galaxies up to high redshift.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

X-rays from the redshift 7.1 quasar ULAS J1120+0641

We present X-ray imaging and spectroscopy of the redshift z=7.084 radio-quiet quasar ULAS J112001.48+064124.3 obtained with Chandra and XMM-Newton. The quasar is detected as a point source with both observatories. The Chandra observation provides a precise position, confirming the association of the X-ray source and the quasar, while a sufficient number of photons is detected in the XMM-Newton observation to yield a meaningful X-ray spectrum. In the XMM-Newton observation the quasar has a 2-10 keV luminosity of 4.7+-0.9 times 10^44 erg/s and a spectral slope alpha = 1.6+0.4/-0.3 (where f_nu is proportional to nu^-alpha). The quasar appears to have dimmed in the 15 months between the two observations, with a 2-10 keV luminosity of $1.8+1.0/-0.7 times 10^45 erg/s during the Chandra observation. We derive optical to X-ray spectral slopes alpha_OX of 1.76+-0.07 and 1.54+0.09/-0.08 at the times of the XMM-Newton and Chandra observations respectively, consistent with the range of alpha_OX found in other quasars of comparable ultraviolet luminosity. The very soft X-ray spectrum suggests that the quasar is accreting above the Eddington rate, L/L_Edd = 5+15/-4, compared to L/L_Edd = 1.2+0.6/-0.5 derived from the rest-frame ultraviolet. Super-Eddington accretion would help to reduce the discrepancy between the age of the quasar implied by the small size of the ionized near zone in which it sits (<10^7 years), and the characteristic e-folding time (2.5 times 10^7 years if L/L_Edd=2). Such super-Eddington accretion would also alleviate the challenging constraints on the seed black hole mass provided that the quasar has been rapidly accreting throughout its history. The remnant of an individual population III star is a plausible progenitor if an average L/L_Edd>1.46 has been maintained over the quasar's lifetime.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

A panchromatic analysis of starburst galaxy M82: Probing the dust properties

(Abridged) We combine NUV, optical and IR imaging of the nearby starburst galaxy M82 to explore the properties of the dust both in the interstellar medium of the galaxy and the dust entrained in the superwind. The three NUV filters of Swift/UVOT enable us to probe in detail the properties of the extinction curve in the region around the 2175A bump. The NUV colour-colour diagram strongly rules out a Calzetti-type law, which can either reflect intrinsic changes in the dust properties or in the star formation history compared to starbursts well represented by such an attenuation law. We emphasize that it is mainly in the NUV region where a standard Milky-Way-type law is preferred over a Calzetti law. The age and dust distribution of the stellar populations is consistent with the scenario of an encounter with M81 in the recent 400 Myr. The radial gradients of the NUV and optical colours in the superwind region support the hypothesis that the emission in the wind cone is driven by scattering from dust grains entrained in the ejecta. The observed wavelength dependence reveals either a grain size distribution $n(a)\propto a^{-2.5}$, where $a$ is the size of the grain, or a flatter distribution with a maximum size cutoff, suggesting that only small grains are entrained in the supernovae-driven wind.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

HerMES: Candidate High-Redshift Galaxies Discovered with Herschel/SPIRE

We present a method for selecting $z>4$ dusty, star forming galaxies (DSFGs) using Herschel/SPIRE 250/350/500 $μm$ flux densities to search for red sources. We apply this method to 21 deg$^2$ of data from the HerMES survey to produce a catalog of 38 high-$z$ candidates. Follow-up of the first 5 of these sources confirms that this method is efficient at selecting high-$z$ DSFGs, with 4/5 at $z=4.3$ to $6.3$ (and the remaining source at $z=3.4$), and that they are some of the most luminous dusty sources known. Comparison with previous DSFG samples, mostly selected at longer wavelengths (e.g., 850 $μm$) and in single-band surveys, shows that our method is much more efficient at selecting high-$z$ DSFGs, in the sense that a much larger fraction are at $z>3$. Correcting for the selection completeness and purity, we find that the number of bright ($S_{500\,μm} \ge 30$ mJy), red Herschel sources is $3.3 \pm 0.8$ deg$^{-2}$. This is much higher than the number predicted by current models, suggesting that the DSFG population extends to higher redshifts than previously believed. If the shape of the luminosity function for high-$z$ DSFGs is similar to that at $z\sim2$, rest-frame UV based studies may be missing a significant component of the star formation density at $z=4$ to $6$, even after correction for extinction.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

The suppression of star formation by powerful active galactic nuclei

The old, red stars which constitute the bulges of galaxies, and the massive black holes at their centres, are the relics of a period in cosmic history when galaxies formed stars at remarkable rates and active galactic nuclei (AGN) shone brightly from accretion onto black holes. It is widely suspected, but unproven, that the tight correlation in mass of the black hole and stellar components results from the AGN quenching the surrounding star formation as it approaches its peak luminosity. X-rays trace emission from AGN unambiguously, while powerful star-forming galaxies are usually dust-obscured and are brightest at infrared to submillimetre wavelengths. Here we report observations in the submillimetre and X-ray which show that rapid star formation was common in the host galaxies of AGN when the Universe was 2-6 Gyrs old, but that the most vigorous star formation is not observed around black holes above an X-ray luminosity of 10^44 erg/s. This suppression of star formation in the host galaxies of powerful AGN is a key prediction of models in which the AGN drives a powerful outflow, expelling the interstellar medium of its host galaxy and transforming the galaxy's properties in a brief period of cosmic time.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

The use and calibration of read-out streaks to increase the dynamic range of the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope

The dynamic range of photon counting micro-channel-plate (MCP) intensified charged-coupled device (CCD) instruments such as the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) and the XMM-Newton Optical Monitor (XMM-OM) is limited at the bright end by coincidence loss, the superposition of multiple photons in the individual frames recorded by the CCD. Photons which arrive during the brief period in which the image frame is transferred for read out of the CCD are displaced in the transfer direction in the recorded images. For sufficiently bright sources, these displaced counts form read-out streaks. Using UVOT observations of Tycho-2 stars, we investigate the use of these read-out streaks to obtain photometry for sources which are too bright (and hence have too much coincidence loss) for normal aperture photometry to be reliable. For read-out-streak photometry, the bright-source limiting factor is coincidence loss within the MCPs rather than the CCD. We find that photometric measurements can be obtained for stars up to 2.4 magnitudes brighter than the usual full-frame coincidence-loss limit by using the read-out streaks. The resulting bright-limit Vega magnitudes in the UVOT passbands are UVW2=8.80, UVM2=8.27, UVW1=8.86, u=9.76, b=10.53, v=9.31 and White=11.71; these limits are independent of the windowing mode of the camera. We find that a photometric precision of 0.1 mag can be achieved through read-out streak measurements. A suitable method for the measurement of read-out streaks is described and all necessary calibration factors are given.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2013

The Herschel PEP/HerMES Luminosity Function. I: Probing the Evolution of PACS selected Galaxies to z~4

We exploit the deep and extended far infrared data sets (at 70, 100 and 160 um) of the Herschel GTO PACS Evolutionary Probe (PEP) Survey, in combination with the HERschel Multi tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) data at 250, 350 and 500 um, to derive the evolution of the restframe 35 um, 60 um, 90 um, and total infrared (IR) luminosity functions (LFs) up to z~4. We detect very strong luminosity evolution for the total IR LF combined with a density evolution. In agreement with previous findings, the IR luminosity density increases steeply to z~1, then flattens between z~1 and z~3 to decrease at z greater than 3. Galaxies with different SEDs, masses and sSFRs evolve in very different ways and this large and deep statistical sample is the first one allowing us to separately study the different evolutionary behaviours of the individual IR populations contributing to the IR luminosity density. Galaxies occupying the well established SFR/stellar mass main sequence (MS) are found to dominate both the total IR LF and luminosity density at all redshifts, with the contribution from off MS sources (0.6 dex above MS) being nearly constant (~20% of the total IR luminosity density) and showing no significant signs of increase with increasing z over the whole 0.8<z<2.2 range. Sources with mass in the 10< log(M/Msun) <11 range are found to dominate the total IR LF, with more massive galaxies prevailing at the bright end of the high-z LF. A two-fold evolutionary scheme for IR galaxies is envisaged: on the one hand, a starburst-dominated phase in which the SMBH grows and is obscured by dust, is followed by an AGN dominated phase, then evolving toward a local elliptical. On the other hand, moderately starforming galaxies containing a low-luminosity AGN have various properties suggesting they are good candidates for systems in a transition phase preceding the formation of steady spiral galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Herschel reveals the obscured star formation in HiZELS Hα emitters at z=1.47

We describe the far-infrared (FIR; rest-frame 8--1000μm) properties of a sample of 443 Hα-selected star-forming galaxies in the COSMOS and UDS fields detected by the HiZELS imaging survey. Sources are identified using narrow-band filters in combination with broad-band photometry to uniformly select Hα (and [OII] if available) emitters in a narrow redshift slice at z = 1.47+/-0.02. We use a stacking approach in Spitzer, Herschel (from PEP and HerMES surveys) and AzTEC images to describe their typical FIR properties. We find that HiZELS galaxies with observed Hα luminosities of ~ 10^{8.1-9.1} Lo have bolometric FIR luminosities of typical LIRGs, L_FIR ~ 10^{11.48+/-0.05} Lo. Combining the Hα and FIR luminosities, we derive median SFR = 32+/-5 Mo/yr and Hα extinctions of A(Hα) = 1.0+/-0.2 mag. Perhaps surprisingly, little difference is seen in typical HiZELS extinction levels compared to local star-forming galaxies. We confirm previous empirical stellar mass (M*) to A(Hα) relations and the little or no evolution up to z = 1.47. For HiZELS galaxies, we provide an empirical parametrisation of the SFR as a function of (u-z)_rest colours and 3.6μm photometry. We find that the observed Hα luminosity is a dominant SFR tracer when (u-z)_rest ~< 0.9 mag or when 3.6μm photometry > 22 mag (Vega) or when M* < 10^9.7 Mo. We do not find any correlation between the [OII]/Hα and FIR luminosity, suggesting that this emission line ratio does not trace the extinction of the most obscured star-forming regions. The luminosity-limited HiZELS sample tends to lie above of the so-called `main sequence' for star-forming galaxies, especially at low M*. This work suggests that obscured star formation is linked to the assembly of M*, with deeper potential wells in massive galaxies providing dense, heavily obscured environments in which stars can form rapidly.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Chronos: A NIR spectroscopic galaxy survey. From the formation of galaxies to the peak of activity

Chronos is our response to ESA's call for white papers to define the science for the future L2, L3 missions. Chronos targets the formation and evolution of galaxies, by collecting the deepest NIR spectroscopic data, from the formation of the first galaxies at z~10 to the peak of formation activity at z~1-3. The strong emission from the atmospheric background makes this type of survey impossible from a ground-based observatory. The spectra of galaxies represent the equivalent of a DNA fingerprint, containing information about the past history of star formation and chemical enrichment. The proposed survey will allow us to dissect the formation process of galaxies including the timescales of quenching triggered by star formation or AGN activity, the effect of environment, the role of infall/outflow processes, or the connection between the galaxies and their underlying dark matter haloes. To provide these data, the mission requires a 2.5m space telescope optimised for a campaign of very deep NIR spectroscopy. A combination of a high multiplex and very long integration times will result in the deepest, largest, high-quality spectroscopic dataset of galaxies from z=1 to 12, spanning the history of the Universe, from 400 million to 6 billion years after the big bang, i.e. covering the most active half of cosmic history.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

HerMES: Cosmic Infrared Background Anisotropies and the Clustering of Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies

We present measurements of the auto- and cross-frequency power spectra of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) at 250, 350, and 500um (1200, 860, and 600 GHz) from observations totaling ~ 70 deg^2 made with the SPIRE instrument aboard the Herschel Space Observatory. We measure a fractional anisotropy dI / I = 14 +- 4%, detecting signatures arising from the clustering of dusty star-forming galaxies in both the linear (2-halo) and non-linear (1-halo) regimes; and that the transition from the 2- to 1-halo terms, below which power originates predominantly from multiple galaxies within dark matter halos, occurs at k_theta ~ 0.1 - 0.12 arcmin^-1 (l ~ 2160 - 2380), from 250 to 500um. New to this paper is clear evidence of a dependence of the Poisson and 1-halo power on the flux-cut level of masked sources --- suggesting that some fraction of the more luminous sources occupy more massive halos as satellites, or are possibly close pairs. We measure the cross-correlation power spectra between bands, finding that bands which are farthest apart are the least correlated, as well as hints of a reduction in the correlation between bands when resolved sources are more aggressively masked. In the second part of the paper we attempt to interpret the measurements in the framework of the halo model. With the aim of fitting simultaneously with one model the power spectra, number counts, and absolute CIB level in all bands, we find that this is achievable by invoking a luminosity-mass relationship, such that the luminosity-to-mass ratio peaks at a particular halo mass scale and declines towards lower and higher mass halos. Our best-fit model finds that the halo mass which is most efficient at hosting star formation in the redshift range of peak star-forming activity, z ~ 1-3, is log(M_peak/M_sun) ~ 12.1 +- 0.5, and that the minimum halo mass to host infrared galaxies is log(M_min/M_sun) ~ 10.1 +- 0.6.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3

Stellar archeology shows that massive elliptical galaxies today formed rapidly about ten billion years ago with star formation rates above several hundreds solar masses per year (M_sun/yr). Their progenitors are likely the sub-millimeter-bright galaxies (SMGs) at redshifts (z) greater than 2. While SMGs' mean molecular gas mass of 5x10^10 M_sun can explain the formation of typical elliptical galaxies, it is inadequate to form ellipticals that already have stellar masses above 2x10^11 M_sun at z ~ 2. Here we report multi-wavelength high-resolution observations of a rare merger of two massive SMGs at z = 2.3. The system is currently forming stars at a tremendous rate of 2,000 M_sun/yr. With a star formation efficiency an order-of-magnitude greater than that of normal galaxies, it will quench the star formation by exhausting the gas reservoir in only ~200 million years. At a projected separation of 19 kiloparsecs, the two massive starbursts are about to merge and form a passive elliptical galaxy with a stellar mass of ~4x10^11 M_sun. Our observations show that gas-rich major galaxy mergers, concurrent with intense star formation, can form the most massive elliptical galaxies by z ~ 1.5.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

AGN in dusty hosts: implications for galaxy evolution

We present strong empirical evidence for a physical connection between the occurrence of a starburst (SB) and a luminous AGN phase. Drawing infrared (IR), X-ray, and optically selected samples from COSMOS, we find that the locus of type-2 AGN hosts in the optical colour-magnitude (U-V/V) and colour-colour (U-V/V-J) space significantly overlaps with that of IR-luminous (L_IR > 10^10 L_sun) galaxies. Based on our observations, we propose that, when simultaneously building their black hole and stellar masses, type-2 AGN hosts are located in the same part of colour-colour space as dusty star-forming galaxies. In fact, our results show that IR-luminous galaxies at z<1.5 are on average 3 times more likely to host a type-2 AGN (L_X > 10^42 erg/s) than would be expected serendipitously, if AGN and star-formation events were unrelated. In addition, the optical and infrared properties of the AGN/SB hybrid systems tentatively suggest that the AGN phase might be coeval with a particularly active phase in a galaxy's star-formation history. Interestingly, we also find a significant fraction of type-2 AGN hosts offset from the dusty galaxy sequence in colour-colour space, possibly representing a transitional or post-starburst phase in galaxy evolution. Our findings are consistent with a scenario whereby AGN play a role in the termination of star-formation in massive galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

On the redshift evolution (0 < z < 4) of dust attenuation and of the total (UV+IR) star formation rate density

Using new homogeneous LFs in the FUV and in the FIR Herschel/PEP and Herschel/HerMES, we study the evolution of the dust attenuation with redshift. With this information in hand, we are able to estimate the redshift evolution of the total (FUV + FIR) star formation rate density SFRD_TOT. By integrating SFRD_TOT, we follow the mass building and analyze the redshift evolution of the stellar mass density (SMD). This letter aims at providing a complete view of star formation from the local universe to z = 4 and, using assumptions on earlier star formation history, compares this evolution to what was known before in an attempt to draw a homogeneous picture of the global evolution of star formation in galaxies. The main conclusions of this letter are: 1) the dust attenuation A_FUV is found to increase from z = 0 to z \sim 1.2 and then starts to decrease up to our last data point at z = 3.6; 2) the estimated SFRD confirms published results up to z = 2. At z > 2, we observe either a plateau or a small increase up to z = 3 and then a likely decrease up to z = 3.6; 3) the peak of A_FUV is delayed with respect to the plateau of SFRD_TOT and a likely origin might be found in the evolution of the bright ends of the FUV and FIR LFs; 4) using assumptions (namely exponential rise and linear rise with time) for the evolution of the star formation density from z = 3.6 to z_form = 10, we integrate SFRD_TOT and find a good agreement with the published SMDs.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

A multiwavelength study of the Magellanic-type galaxy NGC 4449 - I. Modelling the spectral energy distribution, the ionization structure and the star formation history

[Abridged] We present an integrated photometric spectral energy distribution (SED) of the Magellanic-type galaxy NGC 4449 from the far-ultraviolet (UV) to the submillimetre, including new observations acquired by the Herschel Space Observatory. We include integrated UV photometry from the Swift Ultraviolet and Optical Telescope using a measurement technique which is appropriate for extended sources with coincidence loss. In this paper, we examine the available multiwavelength data to infer a range of ages, metallicities and star formation rates for the underlying stellar populations, as well as the composition and the total mass of dust in NGC 4449. We present an iterative scheme, which allows us to build an in-depth and multicomponent representation of NGC 4449 `bottom-up', taking advantage of the broad capabilities of the photoionization and radiative transfer code MOCASSIN (MOnte CArlo SimulationS of Ionized Nebulae). We fit the observed SED, the global ionization structure and the emission line intensities, and infer a recent SFR of 0.4 Msolar/yr and a total stellar mass of approximately 1e9 Msolar emitting with a bolometric luminosity of 5.7e9 Lsolar. Our fits yield a total dust mass of 2.9e6 Msolar including 2 per cent attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We deduce a dust to gas mass ratio of 1/190 within the modelled region. While we do not consider possible additional contributions from even colder dust, we note that including the extended HI envelope and the molecular gas is likely to bring the ratio down to as low as ~ 1/800.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

HerMES: deep number counts at 250, 350, and 500 microns in the COSMOS and GOODS-N fields and the build-up of the cosmic infrared background

ABRIGED Herschel/SPIRE has provided confusion limited maps of deep fields at 250, 350, and 500um, as part of the HerMES survey. Due to confusion, only a small fraction of the Cosmic Infrared Background can be resolved into individually-detected sources. Our goal is to produce deep galaxy number counts and redshift distributions below the confusion limit, which we then use to place strong constraints on the origins of the cosmic infrared background and on models of galaxy evolution. We individually extracted the bright SPIRE with a method using the positions, the flux densities, and the redshifts of the 24um sources as a prior, and derived the number counts and redshift distributions of the bright SPIRE sources. For fainter SPIRE sources, we reconstructed the number counts and the redshift distribution below the confusion limit using the deep 24um catalogs associated with photometric redshift and information provided by the stacking of these sources into the deep SPIRE maps. Finally, by integrating all these counts, we studied the contribution of the galaxies to the CIB as a function of their flux density and redshift. Through stacking, we managed to reconstruct the source counts per redshift slice down to ~2 mJy in the three SPIRE bands, which lies about a factor 10 below the 5sigma confusion limit. None of the pre-existing population models are able to reproduce our results at better than 3sigma. Finally, we extrapolate our counts to zero flux density in order to derive an estimate of the total contribution of galaxies to the CIB, finding 10.1, 6.5, and 2.8 nW/m2/sr at 250, 350, and 500um, respectively. These values agree well with FIRAS absolute measurements, suggesting our number counts and their extrapolation are sufficient to explain the CIB. Finally, combining our results with other works, we estimate the energy budget contained in the CIB between 8 and 1000um: 26 nW/m2/sr.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

A Dust-Obscured Massive Maximum-Starburst Galaxy at a Redshift of 6.34

Massive present-day early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies probably gained the bulk of their stellar mass and heavy elements through intense, dust-enshrouded starbursts - that is, increased rates of star formation - in the most massive dark matter halos at early epochs. However, it remains unknown how soon after the Big Bang such massive starburst progenitors exist. The measured redshift distribution of dusty, massive starbursts has long been suspected to be biased low in redshift owing to selection effects, as confirmed by recent findings of systems out to redshift z~5. Here we report the identification of a massive starburst galaxy at redshift 6.34 through a submillimeter color-selection technique. We unambiguously determined the redshift from a suite of molecular and atomic fine structure cooling lines. These measurements reveal a hundred billion solar masses of highly excited, chemically evolved interstellar medium in this galaxy, which constitutes at least 40% of the baryonic mass. A "maximum starburst" converts the gas into stars at a rate more than 2,000 times that of the Milky Way, a rate among the highest observed at any epoch. Despite the overall downturn of cosmic star formation towards the highest redshifts, it seems that environments mature enough to form the most massive, intense starbursts existed at least as early as 880 million years after the Big Bang.

astro-ph.CO↗