arXiv subjects

Mark Dickinson

Publications and source records attributed to Mark Dickinson.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

The Luminosity Function of Lyman alpha Emitters at Redshift z=7.7

Lyman alpha (Lya) emission lines should be attenuated in a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM). Therefore the visibility of Lya emitters at high redshifts can serve as a valuable probe of reionization at about the 50% level. We present an imaging search for z=7.7 Lya emitting galaxies using an ultra-narrowband filter (filter width= 9A) on the NEWFIRM imager at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. We found four candidate Lya emitters in a survey volume of 1.4 x 10^4 Mpc^3, with a line flux brighter than 6x10^-18 erg/cm^2/s (5 sigma in 2" aperture). We also performed a detailed Monte-Carlo simulation incorporating the instrumental effects to estimate the expected number of Lya emitters in our survey, and found that we should expect to detect one Lya emitter, assuming a non-evolving Lya luminosity function (LF) between z=6.5 and z=7.7. Even if one of the present candidates is spectroscopically confirmed as a z~8 Lya emitter, it would indicate that there is no significant evolution of the Lya LF from z=3.1 to z~8. While firm conclusions would need both spectroscopic confirmations and larger surveys to boost the number counts of galaxies, we successfully demonstrate the feasibility of sensitive near-infrared (1.06 um) narrow-band searches using custom filters designed to avoid the OH emission lines that make up most of the sky background.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Detection of molecular gas in a distant submillimetre galaxy at z=4.76 with ATCA

We have detected the CO(2-1) transition from the submillimetre galaxy (SMG) LESSJ033229.4-275619 at z=4.755 using the new Compact Array Broadband Backend system on the Australian Telescope Compact Array. These data have identified a massive gas reservoir available for star formation for the first time in an SMG at z~5. We use the luminosity and velocity width (FWHM of 160 km/s) of the CO(2--1) line emission to constrain the gas and dynamical mass of Mgas~1.6x10^10 Msun and Mdyn(<2kpc)~5x10^10 (0.25/sin^2(i)) Msun, respectively, similar to that observed for SMGs at lower redshifts of z~2-4, although we note that our observed CO FWHM is a factor of ~3 narrower than typically seen in SMGs. Together with the stellar mass we estimate a total baryonic mass of Mbary~1x10^11 Msun, consistent with the dynamical mass for this young galaxy within the uncertainties. Dynamical and baryonic mass limits of high-redshift galaxies are useful tests of galaxy formation models: using the known z~4-5 SMGs as examples of massive baryonic systems, we find that their space density is consistent with that predicted by current galaxy formation models. In addition, these observations have helped to confirm that z~4-5 SMGs possess the baryonic masses and gas consumption timescales necessary to be the progenitors of the luminous old red galaxies seen at z~3. Our results provide a preview of the science that ALMA will enable on the formation and evolution of the earliest massive galaxies in the Universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

On the Stellar Populations and Evolution of Star-Forming Galaxies at 6.3 < z < 8.6

We study the physical characteristics of galaxies at 6.3 < z < 8.6, selected from deep near-infrared imaging with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. Accounting for the photometric scatter using simulations, galaxies at z ~ 7 have bluer UV colors compared to typical local starburst galaxies at > 4 sigma confidence. Although these colors necessitate young ages (<100 Myr), low or zero dust attenuation, and low metallicities, these are explicable by normal (albeit unreddened) stellar populations, with no evidence for near-zero metallicities and/or top-heavy initial mass functions. The age of the Universe at these redshifts limits the amount of stellar mass in late-type populations, and the WFC3 photometry implies galaxy stellar masses ~ 10^8 - 10^9 Msol for Salpeter initial mass functions to a limiting magnitude of M_1500 ~ -18. The masses of ``characteristic'' (L*) z > 7 galaxies are smaller than those of L* Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at lower redshifts, and are comparable to less evolved galaxies selected on the basis of their Lyman alpha emission at 3 < z < 6, implying that the 6.3 < z < 8.6 galaxies are the progenitors of more evolved galaxies at lower redshifts. We estimate that Lyman alpha emission is able to contribute to the observed WFC3 colors of galaxies at these redshifts, with an estimated typical line flux of ~ 10^-18 erg s^-1 cm^-2, roughly a factor of four below currently planned surveys. The integrated UV specific luminosity for the detected galaxies at z ~ 7 and z ~ 8 is within factors of a few of that required to reionize the IGM assuming low clumping factors, implying that in order to reionize the Universe galaxies at these redshifts have a high ( ~ 50%) escape fraction of Lyman continuum photons, possibly substantiated by the very blue colors of this population.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

VLA 1.4GHz observations of the GOODS-North Field: Data Reduction and Analysis

We describe deep, new, wide-field radio continuum observations of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey -- North (GOODS-N) field. The resulting map has a synthesized beamsize of ~1.7" and an r.m.s. noise level of ~3.9uJy/bm near its center and ~8uJy/bm at 15', from phase center. We have cataloged 1,230 discrete radio emitters, within a 40' x 40' region, above a 5-sigma detection threshold of ~20uJy at the field center. New techniques, pioneered by Owen & Morrison (2008), have enabled us to achieve a dynamic range of 6800:1 in a field that has significantly strong confusing sources. We compare the 1.4-GHz (20-cm) source counts with those from other published radio surveys. Our differential counts are nearly Euclidean below 100uJy with a median source diameter of ~1.2". This adds to the evidence presented by Owen & Morrison (2008) that the natural confusion limit may lie near ~1uJy. If the Euclidean slope of the counts continues down to the natural confusion limit as an extrapolation of our log N - log S, this indicates that the cutoff must be fairly sharp below 1uJy else the cosmic microwave background temperature would increase above 2.7K at 1.4 GHz.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

A Multi-wavelength View of the Star Formation Activity at z~3

We present a multi-wavelength, UV-to-radio analysis for a sample of massive (M$_{\ast}$ $\sim$ 10$^{10}$ M$_\odot$) IRAC- and MIPS 24$μ$m-detected Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) with spectroscopic redshifts z$\sim$3 in the GOODS-North field (L$_{\rm UV}$$>1.8\times$L$^{\ast}_{z=3}$). For LBGs without individual 24$μ$m detections, we employ stacking techniques at 24$μ$m, 1.1mm and 1.4GHz, to construct the average UV-to-radio spectral energy distribution and find it to be consistent with that of a Luminous Infrared Galaxy (LIRG) with L$\rm_{IR}$=4.5$^{+1.1}_{-2.3}$$\times 10^{11}$ L$_{\odot}$ and a specific star formation rate (SSFR) of 4.3 Gyr$^{-1}$ that corresponds to a mass doubling time $\sim$230 Myrs. On the other hand, when considering the 24$μ$m-detected LBGs we find among them galaxies with L$\rm_{IR}> 10^{12}$ L$_{\odot}$, indicating that the space density of $z\sim$3 UV-selected Ultra-luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) is $\sim$(1.5$\pm$0.5)$\times 10^{-5}$ Mpc$^{-3}$. We compare measurements of star formation rates (SFRs) from data at different wavelengths and find that there is tight correlation (Kendall's $τ>$ 99.7%) and excellent agreement between the values derived from dust-corrected UV, mid-IR, mm and radio data for the whole range of L$\rm_{IR}$ up to L$\rm_{IR}$ $\sim$ 10$^{13}$ L$_{\odot}$. This range is greater than that for which the correlation is known to hold at z$\sim$2, possibly due to the lack of significant contribution from PAHs to the 24$μ$m flux at $z\sim$3. The fact that this agreement is observed for galaxies with L$\rm_{IR}$ $>$ 10$^{12}$ L$_{\odot}$ suggests that star-formation in UV-selected ULIRGs, as well as the bulk of star-formation activity at this redshift, is not embedded in optically thick regions as seen in local ULIRGs and submillimeter-selected galaxies at $z=2$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

A Deep HST Search for Escaping Lyman Continuum Flux at z~1.3: Evidence for an Evolving Ionizing Emissivity

We have obtained deep Hubble Space Telescope far-UV images of 15 starburst galaxies at z~1.3 in the GOODS fields to search for escaping Lyman continuum photons. These are the deepest far-UV images m_{AB}=28.7, 3σ, 1" diameter) over this large an area (4.83 arcmin^2) and provide the best escape fraction constraints for any galaxy at any redshift. We do not detect any individual galaxies, with 3σlimits to the Lyman Continuum (~700 Å) flux 50--149 times fainter (in f_nu) than the rest-frame UV (1500 Å) continuum fluxes. Correcting for the mean IGM attenuation (factor ~2), as well as an intrinsic stellar Lyman Break (~3), these limits translate to relative escape fraction limits of f_{esc,rel}<[0.03,0.21]. The stacked limit is f_{esc,rel}(3σ)<0.02. We use a Monte Carlo simulation to properly account for the expected distribution of IGM opacities. When including constraints from previous surveys at z~1.3 we find that, at the 95% confidence level, no more than 8% of star--forming galaxies at z~1.3 can have relative escape fractions greater than 0.50. Alternatively, if the majority of galaxies have low, but non-zero, escaping Lyman Continuum, the escape fraction can not be more than 0.04. Both the stacked limits, and the limits from the Monte Carlo simulation suggest that the average ionizing emissivity (relative to non-ionizing UV emissivity) at z~1.3 is significantly lower than has been observed in Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) at z~3. If the ionizing emissivity of star-forming galaxies is in fact increasing with redshift, it would help to explain the high photoionization rates seen in the IGM at z>4 and reionization of the intergalactic medium at z>6. [Abridged]

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Tidal Dwarf Galaxies around a Post-merger Galaxy, NGC 4922

One possible channel for the formation of dwarf galaxies involves birth in the tidal tails of interacting galaxies. We report the detection of a bright UV tidal tail and several young tidal dwarf galaxy candidates in the post-merger galaxy NGC 4922 in the Coma cluster. Based on a two-component population model (combining young and old stellar populations), we find that the light of tidal tail predominantly comes from young stars (a few Myr old). The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) ultraviolet data played a critical role in the parameter (age and mass) estimation. Our stellar mass estimates of the tidal dwarf galaxy candidates are ~ 10^{6-7} M_sun, typical for dwarf galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

LSST Science Book, Version 2.0

A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2009

BLAST: the far-infrared/radio correlation in distant galaxies

We investigate the correlation between far-infrared (FIR) and radio luminosities in distant galaxies, a lynchpin of modern astronomy. We use data from the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimetre Telescope (BLAST), Spitzer, the Large Apex BOlometer CamerA (LABOCA), the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS). For a catalogue of BLAST 250-micron-selected galaxies, we re-measure the 70--870-micron flux densities at the positions of their most likely 24-micron counterparts, which have a median [interquartile] redshift of 0.74 [0.25, 1.57]. From these, we determine the monochromatic flux density ratio, q_250 = log_10 (S_250micron / S_1400MHz), and the bolometric equivalent, q_IR. At z ~= 0.6, where our 250-micron filter probes rest-frame 160-micron emission, we find no evolution relative to q_160 for local galaxies. We also stack the FIR and submm images at the positions of 24-micron- and radio-selected galaxies. The difference between q_IR seen for 250-micron- and radio-selected galaxies suggests star formation provides most of the IR luminosity in ~< 100-uJy radio galaxies, but rather less for those in the mJy regime. For the 24-micron sample, the radio spectral index is constant across 0 < z < 3, but q_IR exhibits tentative evidence of a steady decline such that q_IR is proportional to (1+z)^(-0.15 +/- 0.03) - significant evolution, spanning the epoch of galaxy formation, with major implications for techniques that rely on the FIR/radio correlation. We compare with model predictions and speculate that we may be seeing the increase in radio activity that gives rise to the radio background.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Large Area Survey for z=7 Galaxies in SDF and GOODS-N: Implications for Galaxy Formation and Cosmic Reionization

We present results of our large-area survey for z'-band dropout galaxies at z=7 in a 1568 arcmin^2 sky area covering the SDF and GOODS-N fields. Combining our ultra-deep Subaru/Suprime-Cam z'- and y-band (lambda_eff=1um) images with legacy data of Subaru and HST, we have identified 22 bright z-dropout galaxies down to y=26, one of which has a spectroscopic redshift of z=6.96 determined from Lya emission. The z=7 luminosity function (LF) yields the best-fit Schechter parameters of phi*=0.69 +2.62/-0.55 x10^(-3) Mpc^(-3), Muv*=-20.10 +/-0.76 mag, and alpha=-1.72 +/-0.65, and indicates a decrease from z=6 at a >95% confidence level. This decrease is beyond the cosmic variance in our two fields, which is estimated to be a factor of <~2. We have found that the cosmic star formation rate density drops from the peak at z=2-3 to z=7 roughly by a factor of ~10 but not larger than ~100. A comparison with the reionization models suggests either that the Universe could not be totally ionized by only galaxies at z=7, or more likely that properties of galaxies at z=7 are different from those at low redshifts having, e.g., a larger escape fraction (>~0.2), and/or a flatter IMF. Our SDF z-dropout galaxies appear to form 60-Mpc long filamentary structures, and the z=6.96 galaxy with Lya emission is located at the center of an overdense region consisting of four UV bright dropout candidates, which might suggest an existence of a well-developed ionized bubble at z=7.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Mid-IR Luminosities and UV/Optical Star Formation Rates at z<1.4

UV continuum and mid-IR emission constitute two widely used star formation indicators at intermediate and high redshifts. We study 2430 galaxies with z<1.4 in the Extended Groth Strip with MIPS 24 mic observations from FIDEL, spectroscopy from DEEP2, and UV, optical, and near-IR photometry from AEGIS. The data are coupled with stellar population models and Bayesian SED fitting to estimate dust-corrected SFRs. In order to probe the dust heating from stellar populations of various ages, the derived SFRs were averaged over various timescales--from 100 Myr for "current" SFR to 1--3 Gyr for long-timescale SFRs. These SED-based UV/optical SFRs are compared to total infrared luminosities extrapolated from 24 mic observations. We find that for the blue, actively star forming galaxies the correlation between the IR luminosity and the UV/optical SFR shows a decrease in scatter when going from shorter to longer SFR-averaging timescales. We interpret this as the greater role of intermediate age stellar populations in heating the dust than what is typically assumed. This holds over the entire redshift range. Many so-called green valley galaxies are simply dust-obscured actively star-forming galaxies. However, there exist 24 mic-detected galaxies, some with L>10^11 L_sun, yet with little current star formation. For them a reasonable amount of dust absorption of stellar light is sufficient to produce the observed levels of IR. In our sample optical and X-ray AGNs do not contribute on average more than ~50% to the mid-IR luminosity, and we see no evidence for a large population of "IR excess" galaxies (Abridged).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Evolution of the Lyman-alpha Halos around High-Redshift Radio Galaxies

We have obtained the first constraints on extended Ly-alpha emission at z ~ 1 in a sample of five radio galaxies. We detect Ly-alpha emission from four of the five galaxies. The Ly-alpha luminosities range from 0.1 - 4 times 10^43 erg/s and are much smaller than those observed for halos around higher redshift radio galaxies. If the z ~ 1 radio galaxies are the descendents the z >~ 2 radio galaxies, then their Ly-alpha luminosities evolve strongly with redshift as ~(1+z)^5. There do not appear to be strong correlations between other parameters, such as radio power, suggesting that this observed evolution is real and not an observational artifact or secondary correlation. We speculate that this evolution of luminous halos may be due to gas depletion (as gas cools, settles, and forms stars) accompanied by an overall rise in the mean gas temperature and a decrease in specific star-formation rate in and around these massive galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

A submillimetre galaxy at z=4.76 in the LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South

We report on the identification of the highest redshift submm-selected source currently known: LESSJ033229.4-275619. This source was detected in the Large Apex BOlometer CAmera (LABOCA) Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS) Submillimetre Survey (LESS), a sensitive 870-um survey (~1.2-mJy rms) of the full 30'x30' ECDFS with the LABOCA camera on the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope. The submm emission is identified with a radio counterpart for which optical spectroscopy provides a redshift of z=4.76. We show that the bolometric emission is dominated by a starburst with a star formation rate of ~1000 Msun/yr, although we also identify a moderate luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) in this galaxy. Thus it has characteristics similar to those of z~2 submm galaxies (SMGs), with a mix of starburst and obscured AGN signatures. This demonstrates that ultraluminous starburst activity is not just restricted to the hosts of the most luminous (and hence rare) QSOs at z~5, but was also occurring in less extreme galaxies at a time when the Universe was less than 10% of its current age. Assuming that we are seeing the major phase of star formation in this galaxy, then we demonstrate that it would be identified as a luminous distant red galaxy at z~3 and that the current estimate of the space density of z>4 SMGs is only sufficient to produce ~10% of the luminous red galaxy population at these early times. However, this leaves open the possibility that some of these galaxies formed through less intense, but more extended star formation events. If the progenitors of all of the luminous red galaxies at z~3 go through an ultraluminous starburst at z>4 then the required volume density of z>4 SMGs will exceed that predicted by current galaxy formation models by more than an order of magnitude.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2008

A Surprisingly High Pair Fraction for Extremely Massive Galaxies at z ~ 3 in the GOODS NICMOS Survey

We calculate the major pair fraction and derive the major merger fraction and rate for 82 massive ($M_{*}>10^{11}M_{\odot}$) galaxies at $1.7 < z < 3.0$ utilising deep HST NICMOS data taken in the GOODS North and South fields. For the first time, our NICMOS data provides imaging with sufficient angular resolution and depth to collate a sufficiently large sample of massive galaxies at z $>$ 1.5 to reliably measure their pair fraction history. We find strong evidence that the pair fraction of massive galaxies evolves with redshift. We calculate a pair fraction of $f_{m}$ = 0.29 +/- 0.06 for our whole sample at $1.7 < z < 3.0$. Specifically, we fit a power law function of the form $f_{m}=f_{0}(1+z)^{m}$ to a combined sample of low redshift data from Conselice et al. (2007) and recently acquired high redshift data from the GOODS NICMOS Survey. We find a best fit to the free parameters of $f_{0}$ = 0.008 +/- 0.003 and $m$ = 3.0 +/- 0.4. We go on to fit a theoretically motivated Press-Schechter curve to this data. This Press-Schechter fit, and the data, show no sign of levelling off or turning over, implying that the merger fraction of massive galaxies continues to rise with redshift out to z $\sim$ 3. Since previous work has established that the merger fraction for lower mass galaxies turns over at z $\sim$ 1.5 - 2.0, this is evidence that higher mass galaxies experience more mergers earlier than their lower mass counterparts, i.e. a galaxy assembly downsizing. Finally, we calculate a merger rate at z = 2.6 of $\Re$ $<$ 5 $\times$ 10$^{5}$ Gpc$^{-3}$ Gyr$^{-1}$, which experiences no significant change to $\Re$ $<$ 1.2 $\times$ 10$^{5}$ Gpc$^{-3}$ Gyr$^{-1}$ at z = 0.5. This corresponds to an average $M_{*}>10^{11}M_{\odot}$ galaxy experiencing 1.7 +/- 0.5 mergers between z = 3 and z = 0.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

A congruence problem for polyhedra

It is well known that to determine a triangle up to congruence requires three measurements: three sides, two sides and the included angle, or one side and two angles. We consider various generalizations of this fact to two and three dimensions. In particular we consider the following question: given a convex polyhedron $P$, how many measurements are required to determine $P$ up to congruence? We show that in general the answer is that the number of measurements required is equal to the number of edges of the polyhedron. However, for many polyhedra fewer measurements suffice; in the case of the unit cube we show that nine carefully chosen measurements are enough. We also prove a number of analogous results for planar polygons. In particular we describe a variety of quadrilaterals, including all rhombi and all rectangles, that can be determined up to congruence with only four measurements, and we prove the existence of $n$-gons requiring only $n$ measurements. Finally, we show that one cannot do better: for any sequence of $n$ distinct points in the plane one needs at least $n$ measurements to determine it up to congruence.

math.MG↗

arXiv2008

Size evolution of the most massive galaxies at 1.7<z<3 from GOODS NICMOS survey imaging

We measure the sizes of 82 massive (M>10^11 M_sun) galaxies at 1.7 2, confirming the extreme compactness of these galaxies. We split our sample into disk-like (n<2) and spheroid-like (n>2) galaxies based on their Sersic indices, and find that at a given stellar mass disk-like galaxies at z~2.3 are a factor of 2.6+/-0.3 smaller than present day equal mass systems, and spheroid-like galaxies at the same redshifts are 4.3+/-0.7 smaller than comparatively massive elliptical galaxies today. At z>2 our results are compatible with both a leveling off, or a mild evolution in size. Furthermore, the high density (~2x10^10 M_sun kpc^-3) of massive galaxies at these redshifts, which are similar to present day globular clusters, possibly makes any further evolution in sizes beyond z=3 unlikely.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Spectroscopic Confirmation of Faint Lyman Break Galaxies at Redshifts Four and Five in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

We present the faintest spectroscopically confirmed sample of redshift four and five Lyman break galaxies to date. The sample is based on slitless grism spectra of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field region from the GRAPES (Grism ACS Program for Extragalactic Science) and PEARS (Probing Evolution and Reionization Spectroscopically) projects, using the G800L grism on the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys. We report here confirmations of 39 galaxies, pre-selected as candidate Lyman break galaxies using photometric selection criteria. We compare a "traditional" V-dropout selection to a more liberal one (with V-i > 0.9), and find that the traditional criteria are about 64% complete and 81% reliable. We also study the Lyman alpha emission properties of our sample. We find that Lyman alpha emission is detected in about 1/4 of the sample, and that our broad-band color selected sample includes 55% of previously published line-selected Lyman alpha sources. Finally, we examine our stacked 2D spectra. We demonstrate that strong, spatially extended (arcsecond scale) Lyman alpha emission is not a generic property of these Lyman break galaxies, but that a modest extension of the Lyman alpha photosphere (compared to the starlight) may be present in those galaxies with prominent Lyman alpha emission.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Molecular Gas in the z=1.2 Ultraluminous Merger GOODS J123634.53+621241.3

We report the detection of CO(2-1) emission from the z=1.2 ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) GOODS J123634.53+621241.3 (also known as the sub-millimeter galaxy GN26). These observations represent the first discovery of high-redshift CO emission using the new Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA). Of all high-redshift (z>1) galaxies within the GOODS-North field, this source has the largest far-infrared (FIR) flux observed in the Spitzer 70um and 160um bands. The CO redshift confirms the optical identification of the source, and the bright CO(2-1) line suggests the presence of a large molecular gas reservoir of about 7x10^10 M(sun). The infrared-to-CO luminosity ratio of L(IR)/L'(CO) = 80+/-30 L(sun) (K Km/s pc^2)^-1 is slightly smaller than the average ratio found in local ULIRGs and high-redshift sub-millimeter galaxies. The short star-formation time scale of about 70 Myr is consistent with a starburst associated with the merger event and is much shorter than the time scales for spiral galaxies and estimates made for high-redshift galaxies selected on the basis of their B-z and z-K colors.

astro-ph↗