Early Results from GLASS-JWST. XXIII. The Transmission of Lyα from UV-faint z ∼ 3–6 Galaxies

Gonzalo Prieto-Lyon; Charlotte Mason; Sara Mascia; Emiliano Merlin; Namrata Roy; Alaina Henry; Guido Roberts-Borsani; Takahiro Morishita; Xin Wang; Kit Boyett; Patricia Bolan; Marusa Bradac; Marco Castellano; Amata Mercurio; Themiya Nanayakkara; Diego Paris; Laura Pentericci; Claudia Scarlata; Michele Trenti; Tommaso Treu; Eros Vanzella

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acf715

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)

Early Results from GLASS-JWST. XXIII. The Transmission of Lyα from UV-faint z ∼ 3–6 Galaxies

Gonzalo Prieto-Lyon,
Charlotte Mason,
Sara Mascia,
Emiliano Merlin,
Namrata Roy,
Alaina Henry,
Guido Roberts-Borsani,
Takahiro Morishita,
Xin Wang,
Kit Boyett,
Patricia Bolan,
Marusa Bradac,
Marco Castellano,
Amata Mercurio,
Themiya Nanayakkara,
Diego Paris,
Laura Pentericci,
Claudia Scarlata,
Michele Trenti,
Tommaso Treu,
Eros Vanzella

Affiliations

Gonzalo Prieto-Lyon: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark ; [email protected]; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Charlotte Mason: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark ; [email protected]; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Sara Mascia: ORCiD; INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monteporzio Catone, Rome, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata , Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy
Emiliano Merlin: ORCiD; INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monteporzio Catone, Rome, Italy
Namrata Roy: ORCiD; Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Alaina Henry: ORCiD; Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Guido Roberts-Borsani: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles , 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Takahiro Morishita: ORCiD; Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, Caltech , 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Xin Wang: ORCiD; School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) , Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China; National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; Institute for Frontiers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University , Beijing 102206, People's Republic of China
Kit Boyett: ORCiD; School of Physics, University of Melbourne , Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
Patricia Bolan: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Davis , 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Marusa Bradac: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Davis , 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; University of Ljubljana , Department of Mathematics and Physics, Jadranska ulica 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Marco Castellano: ORCiD; INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monteporzio Catone, Rome, Italy
Amata Mercurio: ORCiD; Dipartimento di Fisica “E.R. Caianiello,” Università Degli Studi di Salerno , Via Giovanni Paolo II, I-84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy; INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte , Via Moiariello 16, I-80131 Napoli, Italy
Themiya Nanayakkara: ORCiD; Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Diego Paris: ORCiD; INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monteporzio Catone, Rome, Italy
Laura Pentericci: ORCiD; INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monteporzio Catone, Rome, Italy
Claudia Scarlata: ORCiD; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Michele Trenti: ORCiD; School of Physics, University of Melbourne , Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
Tommaso Treu: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles , 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Eros Vanzella: ORCiD; INAF—OAS, Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna , via Gobetti 93/3, I-40129 Bologna, Italy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acf715
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 956, no. 2
p. 136

Abstract

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Ly α emission from galaxies can be used to trace neutral hydrogen in the epoch of reionization, however, there is a degeneracy between the attenuation of Ly α in the intergalactic medium (IGM) and the line profile emitted by the galaxy. Large shifts of Ly α redward of systemic due to scattering in the interstellar medium can boost Ly α transmission in the IGM during reionization. The relationship between the Ly α velocity offset from systemic and other galaxy properties is not well established at high redshift or low luminosities, due to the difficulty of observing emission lines which trace the systemic redshift. Rest-frame optical spectroscopy with JWST/NIRSpec has opened a new window into understanding Ly α at z > 3. We present a sample of 12 UV-faint galaxies (−20 ≲ M _UV ≲ −16) at 3 ≲ z ≲ 6, with Ly α velocity offsets, Δ v _Ly _α , measured from the Very Large Telescope/MUSE and JWST/NIRSpec from the GLASS-JWST Early Release Program. We find a median Δ v _Ly _α of 205 km s ^−1 and standard deviation of 75 km s ^−1 , compared to 320 and 170 km s ^−1 , respectively, for M _UV < −20 galaxies in the literature. Our new sample demonstrates the previously observed trend of decreasing Ly α velocity offset with decreasing UV luminosity and optical line velocity dispersion, which extends to M _UV ≳ −20, consistent with a picture where the Ly α profile is shaped by gas close to the systemic redshift. Our results imply that during reionization Ly α from UV-faint galaxies will be preferentially attenuated, but that detecting Ly α with low Δ v _Ly _α can be an indicator of large ionized bubbles.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal

ISSN: 1538-4357 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X

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