RELICS: A Candidate Galaxy Arc at z 10 and Other Brightly Lensed z> 6 Galaxies

Brett Salmon, Dan Coe, Larry Bradley, Marusa Bradac, Kuang-Han Huang, Pascal Oesch, Gabriel Brammer, Daniel P Stark, Keren Sharon, Michele Trenti, Adi Zitrin

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Massive foreground galaxy clusters magnify and distort the light of objects behind them, permitting a view into both the extremely distant and intrinsically faint galaxy populations. We present here some of the most brightly lensed z>6 galaxy candidates known from the Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey (RELICS) and the discovery of a particularly fortuitous z~10 galaxy candidate which has been arced by the effects of strong gravitational lensing. The z~10 candidate has a lensed H-band magnitude of 25.8 AB mag and a high lensing magnification (~4-7). The inferred upper limits on the stellar mass (log [M_star /M_Sun]=9.5) and star formation rate (log [SFR/(M_Sun/yr)]=1.5) indicate that this candidate is a typical star-forming galaxy on the z>6 SFR-M_star relation. We rule out the only low-z solution as unphysical based on the required stellar mass, dust attenuation, size, and [OIII] EW needed for a z~2 SED to match the data. Finally, we reconstruct the source-plane image and estimate the candidate's physical size at z~10, finding a half-light radius of r_e < 0.8 kpc that is in line with the sizes of other z>9 candidates. While the James Webb Space Telescope will detect z>10 with ease, this rare candidate offers the potential for unprecedented spatial resolution less than 500 Myr after the Big Bang.
Original languageEnglish GB
Title of host publicationAmerican Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts 231
Pages441-454
Number of pages12
Volume231
StatePublished - 2018

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'RELICS: A Candidate Galaxy Arc at z 10 and Other Brightly Lensed z> 6 Galaxies'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this