The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey

  • Maseda M
  • Brinchmann J
  • Franx M
  • et al.
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Abstract

The C III] λλ 1907, 1909 emission doublet has been proposed as an alternative to Lyman- α in redshift confirmations of galaxies at z ≳ 6 since it is not attenuated by the largely neutral intergalactic medium at these redshifts and is believed to be strong in the young, vigorously star-forming galaxies present at these early cosmic times. We present a statistical sample of 17 C III]-emitting galaxies beyond z ~ 1.5 using ~30 h deep VLT/MUSE integral field spectroscopy covering 2 square arcminutes in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDFS) and Ultra Deep Field (UDF), achieving C III] sensitivities of ~ 2 × 10 -17 erg s -1 cm -2 in the HDFS and ~ 7 × 10 -18 erg s -1 cm -2 in the UDF. The rest-frame equivalent widths range from 2 to 19 Å. These 17 galaxies represent ~3% of the total sample of galaxies found between 1.5 ≲ z ≲ 4. They also show elevated star formation rates, lower dust attenuation, and younger mass-weighted ages than the general population of galaxies at the same redshifts. Combined with deep slitless grism spectroscopy from the HST/WFC3 in the UDF, we can tie the rest-frame ultraviolet C III] emission to rest-frame optical emission lines, namely [O III] λ 5007, finding a strong correlation between the two. Down to the flux limits that we observe (~ 1 × 10 -18 erg s -1 cm -2 with the grism data in the UDF), all objects with a rest-frame [O III] λλ 4959, 5007 equivalent width in excess of 250 Å, the so-called extreme emission line galaxies, have detections of C III] in our MUSE data. More detailed studies of the C III]-emitting population at these intermediate redshifts will be crucial to understand the physical conditions in galaxies at early cosmic times and to determine the utility of C III] as a redshift tracer.

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Maseda, M. V., Brinchmann, J., Franx, M., Bacon, R., Bouwens, R. J., Schmidt, K. B., … Wisotzki, L. (2017). The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 608, A4. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201730985

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