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Sun, F, Egami, E, Pirzkal, N, Rieke, M, Baum, S, Boyer, M, Boyett, K, Bunker, AJ, Cameron, AJ, Curti, M, Eisenstein, DJ, Gennaro, M, Greene, TP, Jaffe, D, Kelly, D, Koekemoer, AM, Kumari, N, Maiolino, R, Maseda, M, Perna, M , Rest, A, Robertson, BE, Schlawin, E, Smit, R, Stansberry, J, Sunnquist, B, Tacchella, S, Williams, CC and Willmer, CNA (2023) First Sample of Hα+[O iii]λ5007 Line Emitters at z > 6 Through JWST/NIRCam Slitless Spectroscopy: Physical Properties and Line-luminosity Functions. Astrophysical Journal, 953 (1). ISSN 0004-637X
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Abstract
We present a sample of four emission-line galaxies at z = 6.11–6.35 that were serendipitously discovered using the commissioning data for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)/NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy mode. One of them (at z = 6.11) has been reported previously, while the others are new discoveries. These sources are selected by the secure detections of both [O iii] λ5007 and Hα lines with other fainter lines, which were tentatively detected in some cases (e.g., [O ii] λ3727, [O iii] λ4959). In the [O iii]/Hβ–[N ii]/Hα Baldwin–Phillips–Terlevich diagram, these galaxies occupy the same parameter space as that of z ∼ 2 star-forming galaxies, indicating that they have been enriched rapidly to subsolar metallicities (∼0.4 Z⊙), similar to galaxies with comparable stellar masses at much lower redshifts. The detection of strong Hα lines suggests a higher ionizing photon production efficiency within galaxies in the early universe. We find brightening of the [O iii] λ5007 line-luminosity function (LF) from z = 3 to 6, and weak or no redshift evolution of the Hα line LF from z = 2 to 6. Both LFs are underpredicted at z ∼ 6 by a factor of ∼10 in certain cosmological simulations. This further indicates a global Lyα photon escape fraction of 7%–10% at z ∼ 6, which is slightly lower than previous estimates through the comparison of the UV-derived star formation rate density and Lyα luminosity density. Our sample recovers
66 +28 -44 % of z = 6.0–6.6 galaxies in the survey volume with stellar masses greater than 5 × 108M⊙, suggesting the ubiquity of strong Hα and [O iii] line emitters in the Epoch of Reionization, which will be further uncovered in the era of JWST.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics; 0306 Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural); Astronomy & Astrophysics |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy |
| Divisions: | Astrophysics Research Institute |
| Publisher: | American Astronomical Society |
| SWORD Depositor: | A Symplectic |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Dec 2023 15:13 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Dec 2023 15:15 |
| DOI or ID number: | 10.3847/1538-4357/acd53c |
| URI: | https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/22086 |
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