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JWST and ALMA Multiple-line Study in and around a Galaxy at z = 8.496: Optical to Far-Infrared Line Ratios and the Onset of an Outflow Promoting Ionizing Photon Escape

  • Seiji Fujimoto*
  • , Masami Ouchi
  • , Kimihiko Nakajima
  • , Yuichi Harikane
  • , Yuki Isobe
  • , Gabriel Brammer
  • , Masamune Oguri
  • , Clara Giménez-Arteaga
  • , Kasper E. Heintz
  • , Vasily Kokorev
  • , Franz E. Bauer
  • , Andrea Ferrara
  • , Takashi Kojima
  • , Claudia del P. Lagos
  • , Sommovigo Laura
  • , Daniel Schaerer
  • , Kazuhiro Shimasaku
  • , Bunyo Hatsukade
  • , Kotaro Kohno
  • , Fengwu Sun
  • Francesco Valentino, Darach Watson, Yoshinobu Fudamoto, Akio K. Inoue, Jorge González-López, Anton M. Koekemoer, Kirsten Knudsen, Minju M. Lee, Georgios E. Magdis, Johan Richard, Victoria B. Strait, Yuma Sugahara, Yoichi Tamura, Sune Toft, Hideki Umehata, Gregory Walth
*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) deep spectroscopy for a lensed galaxy at z spec = 8.496 with log ( M star / M ⊙ ) ∼ 7.8 whose optical nebular lines and stellar continuum are detected by JWST/NIRSpec and NIRCam Early Release Observations in the field of SMACS J0723.3-7327. Our ALMA spectrum shows [O iii] 88 μm and [C ii] 158 μm line detections at 4.0σ and 4.5σ, respectively. The redshift and position of the [O iii] line coincide with those of the JWST source, while the [C ii] line is blueshifted by 90 km s−1 with a spatial offset of 0.″5 (≈0.5 kpc in the source plane) from the centroid of the JWST source. The NIRCam F444W image, including [O iii] λ5007 and Hβ line emission, spatially extends beyond the stellar components by a factor of >8. This indicates that the z = 8.5 galaxy has already experienced strong outflows as traced by extended [O iii] λ5007 and offset [C ii] emission, which would promote ionizing photon escape and facilitate reionization. With careful slit-loss corrections and the removal of emission spatially outside the galaxy, we evaluate the [O iii] 88 μm/λ5007 line ratio, and derive the electron density n e by photoionization modeling to be 220 − 130 + 230 cm−3, which is comparable with those of z ∼ 2-3 galaxies. We estimate an [O iii] 88 μm/[C ii] 158 μm line ratio in the galaxy of >4, as high as those of known z ∼ 6-9 galaxies. This high [O iii] 88 μm/[C ii] 158 μm line ratio is generally explained by the high n e as well as the low metallicity ( Z gas / Z ⊙ = 0.04 − 0.02 + 0.02 ), high ionization parameter ( log U > − 2.27 ), and low carbon-to-oxygen abundance ratio (log(C/O) = [−0.52: −0.24]) obtained from the JWST/NIRSpec data; further [C ii] follow-up observations will constrain the covering fraction of photodissociation regions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number146
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume964
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024 Apr 1

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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