A MOLECULAR EINSTEIN RING TOWARD THE z = 3.93 SUBMILLIMETER GALAXY MM18423+5938
- Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, 61 Av. de l'Observatoire, F-75014, Paris (France)
- NRAO, Pete V. Domenici Array Science Center, P.O. Box O, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)
- Canada France Hawaii Telescope Corporation, HI 96743 (United States)
- Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Observatoire d'Astronomie Marseille-Provence, BP 8, F13376 Marseille (France)
- Astronomy Department, Caltech, 1200 East California boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn, Auf dem Hugel 71, 53121 Bonn (Germany)
- Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Konigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
- Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 98bis Bld Arago, F75014, Paris (France)
We present high-resolution imaging of the low-order (J = 1 and 2) CO line emission from the z = 3.93 submillimeter galaxy (SMG) MM18423+5938 using the Expanded Very Large Array, and optical and near-IR imaging using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. This SMG with a spectroscopic redshift was thought to be gravitationally lensed given its enormous apparent brightness. We find that the CO emission is consistent with a complete Einstein ring with a major axis diameter of {approx}1.''4, indicative of lensing. We have also identified the lensing galaxy as a very red elliptical coincident with the geometric center of the ring and estimated its photometric redshift z {approx} 1.1. A first estimate of the lens magnification factor is m {approx} 12. The luminosity L'{sub CO(1-0)} of the CO(1-0) emission is 2.71 {+-} 0.38 x 10{sup 11} m {sup -1} K km s{sup -1} pc{sup 2}, and, adopting the commonly used conversion factor for ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), the molecular gas mass is M(H{sub 2}) = 2.2 x 10{sup 11} m {sup -1} M{sub sun}, comparable to unlensed SMGs if corrected by m {approx} 12. Our revised estimate of the far-IR luminosity of MM18423+5938 is 2 x 10{sup 13} m {sup -1} < L{sub FIR} < 3 x 10{sup 14} m {sup -1} L{sub sun}, comparable to that of ULIRGs. Further observations are required to quantify the star formation rate in MM18423+5938 and to constrain the mass model of the lens in more detail.
- OSTI ID:
- 21565465
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 739, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/739/1/L30; ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
MODELING OF THE HERMES SUBMILLIMETER SOURCE LENSED BY A DARK MATTER DOMINATED FOREGROUND GROUP OF GALAXIES
A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF A STRONGLY LENSED PLANCK-ASSOCIATED SUBMILLIMETER GALAXY