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  • Spectroscopy of CASSOWARY gravitationally lensed galaxies in SDSS: characterization of an extremely bright reionization-era analogue at z = 1.42
Title: Spectroscopy of CASSOWARY gravitationally lensed galaxies in SDSS: characterization of an extremely bright reionization-era analogue at z = 1.42
ABSTRACT We present new observations of 16 bright (r = 19–21) gravitationally lensed galaxies at z ≃ 1–3 selected from the CASSOWARY survey. Included in our sample is the z = 1.42 galaxy CSWA-141, one of the brightest known reionization-era analogues at high redshift (g = 20.5), with a large specific star formation rate (31.2 Gyr−1) and an [O iii]+H β equivalent width (EW[O iii] + H β = 730 Å) that is nearly identical to the average value expected at z ≃ 7–8. In this paper, we investigate the rest-frame UV nebular line emission in our sample with the goal of understanding the factors that regulate strong C iii] emission. Although most of the sources in our sample show weak UV line emission, we find elevated C iii] in the spectrum of CSWA-141 (EWC iii] = 4.6 ± 1.9 Å) together with detections of other prominent emission lines (O iii], Si iii], Fe ii⋆, Mg ii). We compare the rest-optical line properties of high-redshift galaxies with strong and weak C iii] emission, and find that systems with the strongest UV line emission tend to have young stellar populations and nebular gas that is moderately metal-poor and highly ionized, consistent with trends seen at low and high redshift. The brightness of CSWA-141 enables detailed investigation of the extreme emission line galaxies which become common at z > 6. We find that gas traced by the C iii] doublet likely probes higher densities than that traced by [O ii] and [S ii]. Characterization of the spectrally resolved Mg ii emission line and several low-ionization absorption lines suggests neutral gas around the young stars is likely optically thin, potentially facilitating the escape of ionizing radiation.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2108515
PAR ID:
10450405
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume:
520
Issue:
3
ISSN:
0035-8711
Page Range / eLocation ID:
4037 to 4056
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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