skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: DUST OBSCURATION IN LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES AT z {approx} 4

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, P.O. Box 23-141, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)
  2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)

Measuring star formation rates (SFRs) in high-z galaxies with their rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) continuum can be uncertain because of dust obscuration. Prior studies had used the submillimeter emission at 850 {mu}m to determine the intrinsic SFRs of rest-frame UV-selected galaxies, but the results suffered from the low sensitivity and poor resolution ({approx}15''). Here, we use ultradeep Very Large Array 1.4 GHz images with {approx}1''-2'' resolutions to measure the intrinsic SFRs. We perform stacking analyses in the radio images centered on {approx}3500 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z {approx} 4 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North and South fields selected with Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys data. The stacked radio flux is very low, 0.08 {+-} 0.15 {mu}Jy, implying a mean SFR of 6 {+-} 11 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}. This is comparable to the uncorrected mean UV SFRs of {approx}5 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}, implying that the z {approx} 4 LBGs have little dust extinction. The low SFR and dust extinction support the previous results that z {approx} 4 LBGs are in general not submillimeter galaxies. We further show that there is no statistically significant excess of dust-hidden star-forming components within {approx}22 kpc from the LBGs.

OSTI ID:
21464648
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 722, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/722/2/1051; ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English