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A 10 deg^2 Lyman α survey at z=8.8 with spectroscopic follow-up: strong constraints on the luminosity function and implications for other surveys

Matthee, J.J.A.; Sobral, D.; Swinbank, A.M.; Smail, I.; Best, P.N.; Kim, J.-W.; Franx, M.; Milvang-Jensen, B.; Fynbo, J.

A 10 deg^2 Lyman α survey at z=8.8 with spectroscopic follow-up: strong constraints on the luminosity function and implications for other surveys Thumbnail


Authors

J.J.A. Matthee

D. Sobral

P.N. Best

J.-W. Kim

M. Franx

B. Milvang-Jensen

J. Fynbo



Abstract

Candidate galaxies at redshifts of z ∼ 10 are now being found in extremely deep surveys, probing very small areas. As a consequence, candidates are very faint, making spectroscopic confirmation practically impossible. In order to overcome such limitations, we have undertaken the CF-HiZELS survey, which is a large-area, medium-depth near-infrared narrow-band survey targeted at z = 8.8 Lyman α (Lyα) emitters (LAEs) and covering 10 deg2 in part of the SSA22 field with the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). We surveyed a comoving volume of 4.7 × 106 Mpc3 to a Lyα luminosity limit of 6.3 × 1043 erg s−1. We look for Lyα candidates by applying the following criteria: (i) clear emission-line source, (ii) no optical detections (ugriz from CFHTLS), (iii) no visible detection in the optical stack (ugriz > 27), (iv) visually checked reliable NBJ and J detections and (v) J − K ≤ 0. We compute photometric redshifts and remove a significant amount of dusty lower redshift line-emitters at z ∼ 1.4 or 2.2. A total of 13 Lyα candidates were found, of which two are marked as strong candidates, but the majority have very weak constraints on their spectral energy distributions. Using follow-up observations with SINFONI/VLT, we are able to exclude the most robust candidates as LAEs. We put a strong constraint on the Lyα luminosity function at z ∼ 9 and make realistic predictions for ongoing and future surveys. Our results show that surveys for the highest redshift LAEs are susceptible of multiple contaminations and that spectroscopic follow-up is absolutely necessary.

Citation

Matthee, J., Sobral, D., Swinbank, A., Smail, I., Best, P., Kim, J., …Fynbo, J. (2014). A 10 deg^2 Lyman α survey at z=8.8 with spectroscopic follow-up: strong constraints on the luminosity function and implications for other surveys. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 440(3), 2375-2387. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu392

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 26, 2014
Publication Date May 1, 2014
Deposit Date Apr 15, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 440
Issue 3
Pages 2375-2387
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu392
Keywords Galaxies: evolution, Galaxies: high-redshift, Cosmology: observations, Dark ages, Reionization, First stars.

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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