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  1. Abstract We report the first direct measurement of the helium isotope ratio, 3 He/ 4 He, outside of the Local Interstellar Cloud, as part of science-verification observations with the upgraded CRyogenic InfraRed Echelle Spectrograph. Our determination of 3 He/ 4 He is based on metastable He i * absorption along the line of sight toward Θ 2 A Ori in the Orion Nebula. We measure a value 3 He/ 4 He = (1.77 ± 0.13) × 10 −4 , which is just ∼40% above the primordial relative abundance of these isotopes, assuming the Standard Model of particle physics and cosmology, ( 3 He/ 4 He) p = (1.257 ± 0.017) × 10 −4 . We calculate a suite of galactic chemical evolution simulations to study the Galactic build up of these isotopes, using the yields from Limongi & Chieffi for stars in the mass range M = 8–100 M ⊙ and Lagarde et al. for M = 0.8–8 M ⊙ . We find that these simulations simultaneously reproduce the Orion and protosolar 3 He/ 4 He values if the calculations are initialized with a primordial ratio 3 He / 4 He p = ( 1.043 ± 0.089 ) × 10 − 4 . Even though the quoted error does not include the model uncertainty, this determination agrees with the Standard Model value to within ∼2 σ . We also use the present-day Galactic abundance of deuterium (D/H), helium (He/H), and 3 He/ 4 He to infer an empirical limit on the primordial 3 He abundance, 3 He / H p ≤ ( 1.09 ± 0.18 ) × 10 − 5 , which also agrees with the Standard Model value. We point out that it is becoming increasingly difficult to explain the discrepant primordial 7 Li/H abundance with nonstandard physics, without breaking the remarkable simultaneous agreement of three primordial element ratios (D/H, 4 He/H, and 3 He/ 4 He) with the Standard Model values. 
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  2. Abstract Detailed analyses of high-redshift galaxies are challenging because these galaxies are faint, but this difficulty can be overcome with gravitational lensing, in which the magnification of the flux enables spectroscopy with a high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). We present the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) Keck Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI) spectrum of the newly discovered z = 2.79 lensed galaxy SDSS J1059+4251. With an observed magnitude F814W = 18.8 and a magnification factor μ = 31 ± 3, J1059+4251 is both highly magnified and intrinsically luminous, about two magnitudes brighter than M UV * at z ∼ 2–3. With a stellar mass M * = (3.22 ± 0.20) × 10 10 M ⊙ , star formation rate SFR = 50 ± 7 M ⊙ yr −1 , and stellar metallicity Z * ≃ 0.15–0.5 Z ⊙ , J1059+4251 is typical of bright star-forming galaxies at similar redshifts. Thanks to the high S/N and the spectral resolution of the ESI spectrum, we are able to separate the interstellar and stellar features and derive properties that would be inaccessible without the aid of the lensing. We find evidence of a gas outflow with speeds up to −1000 km s −1 , and of an inflow that is probably due to accreting material seen along a favorable line of sight. We measure relative elemental abundances from the interstellar absorption lines and find that α -capture elements are overabundant compared to iron-peak elements, suggestive of rapid star formation. However, this trend may also be affected by dust depletion. Thanks to the high data quality, our results represent a reliable step forward in the characterization of typical galaxies at early cosmic epochs. 
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  3. ABSTRACT

    The combination of the MOSDEF and KBSS-MOSFIRE surveys represents the largest joint investment of Keck/MOSFIRE time to date, with ∼3000 galaxies at 1.4 ≲ z ≲ 3.8, roughly half of which are at z ∼ 2. MOSDEF is photometric- and spectroscopic-redshift selected with a rest-optical magnitude limit, while KBSS-MOSFIRE is primarily selected based on rest-UV colours and a rest-UV magnitude limit. Analysing both surveys in a uniform manner with consistent spectral-energy-distribution (SED) models, we find that the MOSDEF z ∼ 2 targeted sample has higher median M* and redder rest U−V colour than the KBSS-MOSFIRE z ∼ 2 targeted sample, and smaller median SED-based SFR and sSFR (SFR(SED) and sSFR(SED)). Specifically, MOSDEF targeted a larger population of red galaxies with U−V and V−J ≥1.25, while KBSS-MOSFIRE contains more young galaxies with intense star formation. Despite these differences in the z ∼ 2 targeted samples, the subsets of the surveys with multiple emission lines detected and analysed in previous work are much more similar. All median host-galaxy properties with the exception of stellar population age – i.e. M*, SFR(SED), sSFR(SED), AV, and UVJ colours – agree within the uncertainties. Additionally, when uniform emission-line fitting and stellar Balmer absorption correction techniques are applied, there is no significant offset between both samples in the [O iii]λ5008/H β versus [N ii]λ6585/H α diagnostic diagram, in contrast to previously reported discrepancies. We can now combine the MOSDEF and KBSS-MOSFIRE surveys to form the largest z ∼ 2 sample with moderate-resolution rest-optical spectra and construct the fundamental scaling relations of star-forming galaxies during this important epoch.

     
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  4. null (Ed.)
    ABSTRACT We present new measurements of the spatial distribution and kinematics of neutral hydrogen in the circumgalactic and intergalactic medium surrounding star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 2. Using the spectra of ≃3000 galaxies with redshifts 〈z〉 = 2.3 ± 0.4 from the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey, we assemble a sample of more than 200 000 distinct foreground-background pairs with projected angular separations of 3–500 arcsec and spectroscopic redshifts, with 〈zfg〉 = 2.23 and 〈zbg〉 = 2.57 (foreground, background redshifts, respectively.) The ensemble of sightlines and foreground galaxies is used to construct a 2D map of the mean excess $\rm{H\,{\small I}}$$\rm Ly\,\alpha$ optical depth relative to the intergalactic mean as a function of projected galactocentric distance (20 ≲ Dtran/pkpc ≲ 4000) and line-of-sight velocity. We obtain accurate galaxy systemic redshifts, providing significant information on the line-of-sight kinematics of $\rm{H\,{\small I}}$ gas as a function of projected distance Dtran. We compare the map with cosmological zoom-in simulation, finding qualitative agreement between them. A simple two-component (accretion, outflow) analytical model generally reproduces the observed line-of-sight kinematics and projected spatial distribution of $\rm{H\,{\small I}}$. The best-fitting model suggests that galaxy-scale outflows with initial velocity vout ≃ 600 km s$^{-1}\,$ dominate the kinematics of circumgalactic $\rm{H\,{\small I}}$ out to Dtran ≃ 50 kpc, while $\rm{H\,{\small I}}$ at Dtran ≳ 100 kpc is dominated by infall with characteristic vin ≲ circular velocity. Over the impact parameter range 80 ≲ Dtran/pkpc ≲ 200, the $\rm{H\,{\small I}}$ line-of-sight velocity range reaches a minimum, with a corresponding flattening in the rest-frame $\rm Ly\,\alpha$ equivalent width. These observations can be naturally explained as the transition between outflow-dominated and accretion-dominated flows. Beyond Dtran ≃ 300 pkpc (∼1 cMpc), the line-of-sight kinematics are dominated by Hubble expansion. 
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