A Very Bright, Highly Magnified Lyman Break Galaxy at z = 3.07.

Smail, I.; Swinbank, A.M.; Richard, J.; Ebeling, H.; Kneib, J.-P.; Edge, A.C.; Stark, D.; Ellis, R.S.; Dye, S.; Smith, G.P.; Mullis, C.

Abstract

Using Hubble Space Telescope imaging and Keck spectroscopy, we report the discovery of a very bright, highly magnified (~30 times) Lyman break galaxy (LBG) at z = 3.07 in the field of the massive z = 0.33 cluster MACS J2135.2-0102. The system comprises two high surface brightness arcs with a maximum extent of 3'', bracketing a central object that we identify as a massive early-type galaxy at z = 0.73. We construct a lens model that reproduces the main features of the system using a combination of a galaxy-scale lens and the foreground cluster. We show that the morphological, spectral, and photometric properties of the arcs are consistent with them arising from the lensing of a single ~Limg1.gif LBG. The most important feature of this system is that the lensing magnification results in an apparent magnitude of r = 20.3, making this one of the brightest LBGs known. Such a high magnification provides the opportunity of obtaining very high signal-to-noise ratio (and potentially spatially resolved) spectroscopy of a high-redshift galaxy to study its physical properties. We present initial imaging and spectroscopy demonstrating the basic properties of the system and discuss the opportunities for future observations.

Citation

Smail, I., Swinbank, A., Richard, J., Ebeling, H., Kneib, J., Edge, A., …Mullis, C. (2007). A Very Bright, Highly Magnified Lyman Break Galaxy at z = 3.07. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 654(1), L33-L36. https://doi.org/10.1086/510902

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2007-01
• Journal: Astrophysical Journal
• Print ISSN: 2041-8205
• Electronic ISSN: 2041-8213
• Publisher: American Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 654
• Issue: 1
• Pages: L33-L36
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/510902
• Keywords: cosmology : observations; galaxies : evolution; galaxies : formation; galaxies : individual (LBG J213512.73-010143)STAR-FORMING GALAXIES; HIGH-REDSHIFT; MS 1512-CB58; CANDIDATES; SPECTRA
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1571672