The contribution of high-redshift galaxies to cosmic reionization: New results from deep WFC3 imaging of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

By A. Bunker, S. Wilkins, Richard S. Ellis, D. Stark, S. Lorenzoni, K. Chiu, M. Lacy, M. Jarvis, S. H. P. Department, U. Oxford and 5 more. 2009

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We have searched for star-forming galaxies at z≈ 7–10 by applying the Lyman-break technique to newly released Y-, J- and H-band images (1.1, 1.25 and 1.6 μm) from Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope. By comparing these images of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) z′-band (0.85 μm) images, we identify objects with red colours, (z′−Y)AB > 1.3, consistent with the Lyman α forest absorption at z≈ 6.7–8.8. We identify 12 of these z′-drops down to a limiting magnitude YAB 1.0 and JAB 0.5), and the clumping factor of the Universe is low. Even then, we need to invoke a large contribution from galaxies below our detection limit (a steep faint-end slope). The apparent shortfall in ionizing photons might be alleviated if stellar populations at high redshift are of low metallicity or have a top-heavy initial mass function.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ab63a8f1a36cfaa0877c215a7396f3152e367f73

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ARE ULTRA-FAINT GALAXIES AT z = 6–8 RESPONSIBLE FOR COSMIC REIONIZATION? COMBINED CONSTRAINTS FROM THE HUBBLE FRONTIER FIELDS CLUSTERS AND PARALLELS (2015, background): “…have made important inroads in constraining the galaxy ultraviolet luminosity function (UV LF) out to z ∼ 10 (e.g., Bouwens et al. 2012; Bunker et al. 2010; Oesch et al. 2012; McLure et al. 2013; Schmidt et al. 2014; Bouwens et al. 2015b; Finkelstein et al. 2014), which, in turn,…”
The extreme faint end of the UV luminosity function at z ∼ 6 through gravitational telescopes: a comprehensive assessment of strong lensing uncertainties (2018, background): “…(Robertson et al. 2013; Finkelstein et al. 2015; Bouwens et al. 2015) as the study of their luminosity function at z > 6 reveals a steep faint-end slope that indicates a significant contribution from faint galaxies (Bunker et al. 2010; Oesch et al. 2010; Bouwens et al. 2011; McLure et al. 2013).”
LOFAR: The LOw-Frequency ARray (2013, background): “Still the current constraints strongly suggest that the EoR roughly straddled the redshift range of z ∼ 6–12 (Komatsu et al. 2011; Fan, et al. 2003, 2006; Bolton & Haehnelt 2007; Theuns et al. 2002; Bolton et al. 2010; Oesch et al. 2010; Bunker et al. 2010).”
A CENSUS OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES IN THE Z ∼ 9–10 UNIVERSE BASED ON HST+SPITZER OBSERVATIONS OVER 19 CLASH CLUSTERS: THREE CANDIDATE Z ∼ 9–10 GALAXIES AND IMPROVED CONSTRAINTS ON THE STAR FORMATION RATE DENSITY AT Z ∼ 9.2 (2012, unknown): “…et al. 2003; Bouwens et al. 2003; Dickinson et al. 2004), z ∼ 7 (e.g., Bouwens et al. 2004; Yan & Windhorst 2004; Bouwens & Illingworth 2006b; Iye et al. 2006; Fontana et al. 2009; Schenker et al. 2012), and z ∼ 8 (e.g., Bouwens et al. 2010; McLure et al. 2010; Bunker et al. 2010; Yan et al. 2010).”
VERY BLUE UV-CONTINUUM SLOPE β OF LOW LUMINOSITY z ∼ 7 GALAXIES FROM WFC3/IR: EVIDENCE FOR EXTREMELY LOW METALLICITIES? (2009, methodology): “Use of the photometry from Oesch et al. (2009b), McLure et al. (2009), or Bunker et al. (2009) for our z ∼ 7 sample yield very consistent colors and similarly blue (or even bluer) β’s.”
THE CLUSTER LENSING AND SUPERNOVA SURVEY WITH HUBBLE: AN OVERVIEW (2011, background): “Substantial progress has been made in recent years in finding objects at z ∼ 6 − 7 (Bouwens et al. 2006, 2009; Bunker et al. 2010; Oesch et al. 2010a,b; McLure et al. 2010; Capak et al. 2011), which are, at most, ∼ 700 − 900 Myr of age.”
LOWER-LUMINOSITY GALAXIES COULD REIONIZE THE UNIVERSE: VERY STEEP FAINT-END SLOPES TO THE UV LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS AT z ⩾ 5–8 FROM THE HUDF09 WFC3/IR OBSERVATIONS (2011, background): “…and contribution of galaxies to reionization are higher than in many purely observationally-based discussions (e.g., Bouwens et al. 2011a; Stark et al. 2007; Chary 2008; Oesch et al. 2009; Ouchi et al. 2009; Pawlik et al. 5 2009; Bunker et al. 2010; Labbé et al. 2010; Robertson et al. 2010b).”
A new multifield determination of the galaxy luminosity function at z = 7-9 incorporating the 2012 Hubble Ultra-Deep Field imaging (2012, unknown): “…eight gives references to previous discoveries of objects: (1) McLure et al. (2010), (2) Oesch et al. (2010a), (3) Finkelstein et al. (2010), (4) Bunker et al. (2010), (5) Yan et al. (2010), (6) Bouwens et al. (2010), (7) Wilkins et al. (2011) (8) Lorenzoni et al. (2011), (9) Bouwens et al.…”
A critical analysis of the ultraviolet continuum slopes (β) of high-redshift galaxies: no evidence (yet) for extreme stellar populations at z > 6 (2011, methodology): “…photometry which hasnow been successfully used to discover galaxies atz ≃ 6.5 − 8.5 (e.g. McLure et al. 2010; Oesch et al. 2010; Bouwens et al. 2010a; Bunker et al. 2010; Finkelstein et al. 2010; Vanzella et al. 2011) can actually be used to establish the rest-frame continuum slope f the highest…”
Escape of Lyman continuum radiation from local galaxies - Detection of leakage from the young starburst Tol 1247-232 (2013, background): “…likely that galaxies played an important role in the reionization of the universe (e.g. Razoumov & Sommer-Larsen 2010; Bouwens et al. 2012b), we have not yet detected the responsible galaxies since these would be well below current detection thresholds (Bunker et al. 2010; McLure et al. 2010).”
THE HST EXTREME DEEP FIELD (XDF): COMBINING ALL ACS AND WFC3/IR DATA ON THE HUDF REGION INTO THE DEEPEST FIELD EVER (2013, methodology): “…Camera 3 (WFC3/IR) was added to Hubble in 2009 by the Shuttle astronauts in the final Hubble servicing mission (SM4) that the reionization epoch was opened up to extensive exploration (e.g. Oesch et al. 2010; Bouwens et al. 2010; McLure et al. 2010; Bunker et al. 2010; Finkelstein et al. 2010).”
New Measurements of the Ionizing Ultraviolet Background over 2 < z < 5 and Implications for Hydrogen Reionization (2013, background): “…> 6 indicate that the global star formation rate density declines steeply with redshift over 6 < z < 12 (e.g., Ouchi et al. 2009; Castellano et al. 2010; Bunker et al. 2010; Bouwens et al. 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012; Oesch et al. 2010; McLure et al. 2010, 2013; Schenker et al. 2013; Ellis et al. 2013).”
STATISTICS OF 207 Lyα EMITTERS AT A REDSHIFT NEAR 7: CONSTRAINTS ON REIONIZATION AND GALAXY FORMATION MODELS (2010, background): “…from z = 6 to 7 − 8 (Ouchi et al. 2009b; Oesch et al. 2010; Bouwens et al. 2010a; McLure et al. 2010; Castellano et al. 2010; Wilkins et al. 2010; Bunker et al. 2009; Yan et al. 2009; Wilkins et al. 2010; see also Hickey et al. 2009), which are also reproduced by recent hydrodynamic…”
New redshift z ≃ 9 galaxies in the Hubble Frontier Fields: implications for early evolution of the UV luminosity density (2014, unknown): “…made possible by the advent of deep, multi-band, near-infrared imaging provided by the installation of WFC3/IR on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 2009 (e.g. Bouwens et al. 2010; McLure et al. 2010; Oesch et al. 2010; Finkelstein et al. 2010; Bunker et al. 2010; see Dunlop 2013 for a review).”
ON THE REDSHIFT EVOLUTION OF THE Lyα ESCAPE FRACTION AND THE DUST CONTENT OF GALAXIES (2010, background): “Leaking ionizing radiation As discussed previously and by, for example, Bunker et al. (2010) and Bouwens et al. (2009b), the LyC escape fraction at z ∼ 8 must have been around 20– 50 % in order to reionize the universe, depending upon the clumping factor of neutral hydrogen.”
SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF THREE z-DROPOUT GALAXIES AT z = 6.844–7.213: DEMOGRAPHICS OF Lyα EMISSION IN z ∼ 7 GALAXIES (2011, methodology): “2010, 2011; Bouwens et al. 2010a, 2011b,a; McLure et al. 2010, 2011; Wilkins et al. 2010, 2011; Bunker et al. 2010; Yan et al. 2010, 2011; Lorenzoni et al. 2011), the Hawk-I instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT; Castellano et al. 2010a,b), and improvement in the redend sensitivity of the…”
Ultraviolet emission lines in young low-mass galaxies at z ≃ 2: physical properties and implications for studies at z > 7 (2014, background): “…subL⋆ galaxies (e.g., Reddy & Steidel 2009, Oesch et al. 2010, Alavi et al. 2014), and the dominance of such low luminosity system becomes even more pronounced at yet earlier times (e.g., Bunker et al. 2010, Oesch et al. 2012, Bouwens et al. 2012, Schenker et ⋆ E-mail: dpstark@email.arizona.edu al.”
THE ABUNDANCE OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES IN THE REDSHIFT RANGE 8.5–12: NEW RESULTS FROM THE 2012 HUBBLE ULTRA DEEP FIELD CAMPAIGN (2012, background): “In McLure et al. (2011)’s UDF09 analysis, no robust J-band dropout source was claimed (see also Bunker et al. 2010).”