EXTREME EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES IN CANDELS: BROADBAND-SELECTED, STARBURSTING DWARF GALAXIES AT z > 1

Journal Article · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/742/2/111· OSTI ID:22004613

Van der Wel, A; Rix, H -W; Jahnke, K ^[1]; Straughn, A N ^[2]; Finkelstein, S L; Salmon, B W ^[3]; Koekemoer, A M; Ferguson, H C ^[4]; Weiner, B J ^[5]; Wuyts, S ^[6]; Bell, E F ^[7]; Faber, S M; Trump, J R; Koo, D C ^[8]; Scarlata, C ^[9]; Hathi, N P ^[10]; Dunlop, J S ^[11]; Newman, J A ^[12]; Dickinson, M ^[13]; others, and

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1. Max-Planck Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
2. Astrophysics Science Division, Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 665, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
3. George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States)
4. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
5. Steward Observatory, 933 N. Cherry St., University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
6. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
7. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
8. UCO/Lick Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
9. Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota, 116 Church St. S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)
10. Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
11. Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)
12. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, 3941 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States)
13. National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)

We identify an abundant population of extreme emission-line galaxies (EELGs) at redshift z {approx} 1.7 in the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey imaging from Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 (HST/WFC3). Sixty-nine EELG candidates are selected by the large contribution of exceptionally bright emission lines to their near-infrared broadband magnitudes. Supported by spectroscopic confirmation of strong [O III] emission lines-with rest-frame equivalent widths {approx}1000 A-in the four candidates that have HST/WFC3 grism observations, we conclude that these objects are galaxies with {approx}10{sup 8} M{sub Sun} in stellar mass, undergoing an enormous starburst phase with M{sub *}/ M-dot{sub *} of only {approx}15 Myr. These bursts may cause outflows that are strong enough to produce cored dark matter profiles in low-mass galaxies. The individual star formation rates and the comoving number density (3.7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} Mpc{sup -3}) can produce in {approx}4 Gyr much of the stellar mass density that is presently contained in 10{sup 8}-10{sup 9} M{sub Sun} dwarf galaxies. Therefore, our observations provide a strong indication that many or even most of the stars in present-day dwarf galaxies formed in strong, short-lived bursts, mostly at z > 1.

• OSTI ID: 22004613
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 742, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
MASS
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
RED SHIFT
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
TELESCOPES