A High Space Density of Luminous Lyα Emitters at z ∼ 6.5

Authors

Micaela Bagley, University of MinnesotaFollow
Claudia Scarlata, University of MinnesotaFollow
Alaina Henry, Space Telescope Science InstituteFollow
Marc Rafelski, Space Telescope Science InstituteFollow
Matthew Malkan, University of California, Los AngelesFollow
Harry Teplitz, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
Y. Dai, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
Ivano Baronchelli, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
James Colbert, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
Michael J. Rutkowski, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Vihang Mehta, University of MinnesotaFollow
Alan Dressler, Carnegie LearningFollow
Patrick McCarthy, Carnegie LearningFollow
Andrew Bunker, University of OxfordFollow
Hakim Atek, École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneFollow
Thibault Garel, École normale supérieure de Lyon
Crystal Martin, University of California, Santa BarbaraFollow
Nimish Hathi, Space Telescope Science InstituteFollow
Brian Siana, University of California, RiversideFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-27-2017

Abstract

We present the results of a systematic search for Lyα emitters (LAEs) at using the HST WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) Survey. Our total volume over this redshift range is Mpc3, comparable to many of the narrowband surveys despite their larger area coverage. We find two LAEs at z = 6.38 and 6.44 with line luminosities of erg s−1, putting them among the brightest LAEs discovered at these redshifts. Taking advantage of the broad spectral coverage of WISP, we are able to rule out almost all lower-redshift contaminants. The WISP LAEs have a high number density of Mpc−3. We argue that the LAEs reside in megaparsec-scale ionized bubbles that allow the Lyα photons to redshift out of resonance before encountering the neutral intergalactic medium. We discuss possible ionizing sources and conclude that the observed LAEs alone are not sufficient to ionize the bubbles.

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Print ISSN

0004-637X

Online ISSN

1538-4357

Publication Title

The Astrophysical Journal

Recommended Citation

Bagley, M., Scarlata, C., Henry, A., Rafelski, M., Malkan, M., Teplitz, H., Dai, Y. S., Baronchelli, I., Colbert, J., Rutkowski, M. J., Mehta, V., Dressler, A., McCarthy, P., Bunker, A., Atek, H., Garel, T., Martin C. L, Hathi, N,., & Siana, B. (2017). A high space density of luminous Lyα emitters at z ∼ 6.5. The Astrophysical Journal, 837(1), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/837/1/11

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/837/1/11

Link to Publisher Version (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/837/1/11

Publisher's Copyright and Source

Copyright © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.