An Imperfectly Passive Nature: Bright Submillimeter Emission from Dust-obscured Star Formation in the z = 3.717 ldquoPassiverdquo System, ZF 20115

J.~M. Simpson; I. Smail; W.-H. Wang; D. Riechers; J.~S. Dunlop; Y. Ao; N. Bourne; A. Bunker; S.~C. Chapman; C.-C. Chen; H. Dannerbauer; J.~E. Geach; T. Goto; C.~M. Harrison; H.~S. Hwang; R.~J. Ivison; T. Kodama; C.-H. Lee; H.-M. Lee; M. Lee; C.-F. Lim; M.~J. Michalowski; D.~J. Rosario; H. Shim; X.~W. Shu; A.~M. Swinbank; W.-L. Tee; Y. Toba; E. Valiante; J. Wang; X.~Z. Zheng

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa7cf2

An Imperfectly Passive Nature: Bright Submillimeter Emission from Dust-obscured Star Formation in the z = 3.717 ldquoPassiverdquo System, ZF 20115

J.~M. Simpson
, I. Smail
, W.-H. Wang
, D. Riechers
, J.~S. Dunlop
, Y. Ao
, N. Bourne
, A. Bunker
, S.~C. Chapman
, C.-C. Chen
, H. Dannerbauer
, J.~E. Geach
, T. Goto
, C.~M. Harrison
, H.~S. Hwang
, R.~J. Ivison
, T. Kodama
, C.-H. Lee
, H.-M. Lee
, M. Lee

C.-F. Lim, M.~J. Michalowski, D.~J. Rosario, H. Shim, X.~W. Shu, A.~M. Swinbank, W.-L. Tee, Y. Toba, E. Valiante, J. Wang, X.~Z. Zheng

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The identification of high-redshift, massive galaxies with old stellar populations may pose challenges to some models of galaxy formation. However, to securely classify a galaxy as quiescent, it is necessary to exclude significant ongoing star formation, something that can be challenging to achieve at high redshifts. In this Letter, we analyze deep ALMA/870 μm and SCUBA-2/450 μm imaging of the claimed "post-starburst" galaxy ZF 20115 at z = 3.717 that exhibits a strong Balmer break and absorption lines. The rest-frame far-infrared imaging identifies a luminous starburst 0farcs4 ± 0farcs1 (~3 kpc in projection) from the position of the ultraviolet/optical emission and is consistent with lying at the redshift of ZF 20115. The star-forming component, with an obscured star formation rate of ${100}_{-70}^{+15}\,{M}_{\odot }\,{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$, is undetected in the rest-frame ultraviolet but contributes significantly to the lower angular resolution photometry at rest-frame wavelengths gsim3500 Å. This contribution from the obscured starburst, especially in the Spitzer/IRAC wavebands, significantly complicates the determination of a reliable stellar mass for the ZF 20015 system, and we conclude that this source does not pose a challenge to current models of galaxy formation. The multi-wavelength observations of ZF 20115 unveil a complex system with an intricate and spatially varying star formation history. ZF 20115 demonstrates that understanding high-redshift obscured starbursts will only be possible with multi-wavelength studies that include high-resolution observations, available with the James Webb Space Telescope, at mid-infrared wavelengths.

Original language	English
Article number	L10
Number of pages	5
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	844
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa7cf2
Publication status	Published - 19 Jul 2017

Keywords

galaxies: high-redshift, galaxies: starburst

Access to Document

10.3847/2041-8213/aa7cf2Licence: Other

Cite this

Simpson, J. M., Smail, I., Wang, W.-H., Riechers, D., Dunlop, J. S., Ao, Y., Bourne, N., Bunker, A., Chapman, S. C., Chen, C.-C., Dannerbauer, H., Geach, J. E., Goto, T., Harrison, C. M., Hwang, H. S., Ivison, R. J., Kodama, T., Lee, C.-H., Lee, H.-M., ... Zheng, X. Z. (2017). An Imperfectly Passive Nature: Bright Submillimeter Emission from Dust-obscured Star Formation in the z = 3.717 ldquoPassiverdquo System, ZF 20115. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 844(1), Article L10. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa7cf2

@article{cc5d65625fa44a128d8af70a47cb1d3f,

title = "An Imperfectly Passive Nature: Bright Submillimeter Emission from Dust-obscured Star Formation in the z = 3.717 ldquoPassiverdquo System, ZF 20115",

abstract = "The identification of high-redshift, massive galaxies with old stellar populations may pose challenges to some models of galaxy formation. However, to securely classify a galaxy as quiescent, it is necessary to exclude significant ongoing star formation, something that can be challenging to achieve at high redshifts. In this Letter, we analyze deep ALMA/870 μm and SCUBA-2/450 μm imaging of the claimed {"}post-starburst{"} galaxy ZF 20115 at z = 3.717 that exhibits a strong Balmer break and absorption lines. The rest-frame far-infrared imaging identifies a luminous starburst 0farcs4 ± 0farcs1 (\textasciitilde{}3 kpc in projection) from the position of the ultraviolet/optical emission and is consistent with lying at the redshift of ZF 20115. The star-forming component, with an obscured star formation rate of \$\{100\}\_\{-70\}\textasciicircum{}\{+15\}\textbackslash{},\{M\}\_\{\textbackslash{}odot \}\textbackslash{},\{\textbackslash{}mathrm\{yr\}\}\textasciicircum{}\{-1\}\$, is undetected in the rest-frame ultraviolet but contributes significantly to the lower angular resolution photometry at rest-frame wavelengths gsim3500 {\AA}. This contribution from the obscured starburst, especially in the Spitzer/IRAC wavebands, significantly complicates the determination of a reliable stellar mass for the ZF 20015 system, and we conclude that this source does not pose a challenge to current models of galaxy formation. The multi-wavelength observations of ZF 20115 unveil a complex system with an intricate and spatially varying star formation history. ZF 20115 demonstrates that understanding high-redshift obscured starbursts will only be possible with multi-wavelength studies that include high-resolution observations, available with the James Webb Space Telescope, at mid-infrared wavelengths.",

keywords = "galaxies: high-redshift, galaxies: starburst",

author = "J.\textasciitilde{}M. Simpson and I. Smail and W.-H. Wang and D. Riechers and J.\textasciitilde{}S. Dunlop and Y. Ao and N. Bourne and A. Bunker and S.\textasciitilde{}C. Chapman and C.-C. Chen and H. Dannerbauer and J.\textasciitilde{}E. Geach and T. Goto and C.\textasciitilde{}M. Harrison and H.\textasciitilde{}S. Hwang and R.\textasciitilde{}J. Ivison and T. Kodama and C.-H. Lee and H.-M. Lee and M. Lee and C.-F. Lim and M.\textasciitilde{}J. Michalowski and D.\textasciitilde{}J. Rosario and H. Shim and X.\textasciitilde{}W. Shu and A.\textasciitilde{}M. Swinbank and W.-L. Tee and Y. Toba and E. Valiante and J. Wang and X.\textasciitilde{}Z. Zheng",

year = "2017",

month = jul,

day = "19",

doi = "10.3847/2041-8213/aa7cf2",

language = "English",

volume = "844",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

issn = "2041-8205",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "1",

}

Simpson, JM, Smail, I, Wang, W-H, Riechers, D, Dunlop, JS, Ao, Y, Bourne, N, Bunker, A, Chapman, SC, Chen, C-C, Dannerbauer, H, Geach, JE, Goto, T, Harrison, CM, Hwang, HS, Ivison, RJ, Kodama, T, Lee, C-H, Lee, H-M, Lee, M, Lim, C-F, Michalowski, MJ, Rosario, DJ, Shim, H, Shu, XW, Swinbank, AM, Tee, W-L, Toba, Y, Valiante, E, Wang, J & Zheng, XZ 2017, 'An Imperfectly Passive Nature: Bright Submillimeter Emission from Dust-obscured Star Formation in the z = 3.717 ldquoPassiverdquo System, ZF 20115', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 844, no. 1, L10. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa7cf2

TY - JOUR

T1 - An Imperfectly Passive Nature: Bright Submillimeter Emission from Dust-obscured Star Formation in the z = 3.717 ldquoPassiverdquo System, ZF 20115

AU - Simpson, J.~M.

AU - Smail, I.

AU - Wang, W.-H.

AU - Riechers, D.

AU - Dunlop, J.~S.

AU - Ao, Y.

AU - Bourne, N.

AU - Bunker, A.

AU - Chapman, S.~C.

AU - Chen, C.-C.

AU - Dannerbauer, H.

AU - Geach, J.~E.

AU - Goto, T.

AU - Harrison, C.~M.

AU - Hwang, H.~S.

AU - Ivison, R.~J.

AU - Kodama, T.

AU - Lee, C.-H.

AU - Lee, H.-M.

AU - Lee, M.

AU - Lim, C.-F.

AU - Michalowski, M.~J.

AU - Rosario, D.~J.

AU - Shim, H.

AU - Shu, X.~W.

AU - Swinbank, A.~M.

AU - Tee, W.-L.

AU - Toba, Y.

AU - Valiante, E.

AU - Wang, J.

AU - Zheng, X.~Z.

PY - 2017/7/19

Y1 - 2017/7/19

N2 - The identification of high-redshift, massive galaxies with old stellar populations may pose challenges to some models of galaxy formation. However, to securely classify a galaxy as quiescent, it is necessary to exclude significant ongoing star formation, something that can be challenging to achieve at high redshifts. In this Letter, we analyze deep ALMA/870 μm and SCUBA-2/450 μm imaging of the claimed "post-starburst" galaxy ZF 20115 at z = 3.717 that exhibits a strong Balmer break and absorption lines. The rest-frame far-infrared imaging identifies a luminous starburst 0farcs4 ± 0farcs1 (~3 kpc in projection) from the position of the ultraviolet/optical emission and is consistent with lying at the redshift of ZF 20115. The star-forming component, with an obscured star formation rate of ${100}_{-70}^{+15}\,{M}_{\odot }\,{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$, is undetected in the rest-frame ultraviolet but contributes significantly to the lower angular resolution photometry at rest-frame wavelengths gsim3500 Å. This contribution from the obscured starburst, especially in the Spitzer/IRAC wavebands, significantly complicates the determination of a reliable stellar mass for the ZF 20015 system, and we conclude that this source does not pose a challenge to current models of galaxy formation. The multi-wavelength observations of ZF 20115 unveil a complex system with an intricate and spatially varying star formation history. ZF 20115 demonstrates that understanding high-redshift obscured starbursts will only be possible with multi-wavelength studies that include high-resolution observations, available with the James Webb Space Telescope, at mid-infrared wavelengths.

AB - The identification of high-redshift, massive galaxies with old stellar populations may pose challenges to some models of galaxy formation. However, to securely classify a galaxy as quiescent, it is necessary to exclude significant ongoing star formation, something that can be challenging to achieve at high redshifts. In this Letter, we analyze deep ALMA/870 μm and SCUBA-2/450 μm imaging of the claimed "post-starburst" galaxy ZF 20115 at z = 3.717 that exhibits a strong Balmer break and absorption lines. The rest-frame far-infrared imaging identifies a luminous starburst 0farcs4 ± 0farcs1 (~3 kpc in projection) from the position of the ultraviolet/optical emission and is consistent with lying at the redshift of ZF 20115. The star-forming component, with an obscured star formation rate of ${100}_{-70}^{+15}\,{M}_{\odot }\,{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$, is undetected in the rest-frame ultraviolet but contributes significantly to the lower angular resolution photometry at rest-frame wavelengths gsim3500 Å. This contribution from the obscured starburst, especially in the Spitzer/IRAC wavebands, significantly complicates the determination of a reliable stellar mass for the ZF 20015 system, and we conclude that this source does not pose a challenge to current models of galaxy formation. The multi-wavelength observations of ZF 20115 unveil a complex system with an intricate and spatially varying star formation history. ZF 20115 demonstrates that understanding high-redshift obscured starbursts will only be possible with multi-wavelength studies that include high-resolution observations, available with the James Webb Space Telescope, at mid-infrared wavelengths.

KW - galaxies: high-redshift, galaxies: starburst

U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/aa7cf2

DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/aa7cf2

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-8205

VL - 844

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

IS - 1

M1 - L10

ER -

An Imperfectly Passive Nature: Bright Submillimeter Emission from Dust-obscured Star Formation in the z = 3.717 ldquoPassiverdquo System, ZF 20115

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this