The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2024)
ALMA Detection of [O iii] 88 μm at z = 12.33: Exploring the Nature and Evolution of GHZ2 as a Massive Compact Stellar System
- Jorge A. Zavala,
- Tom Bakx,
- Ikki Mitsuhashi,
- Marco Castellano,
- Antonello Calabro,
- Hollis Akins,
- Veronique Buat,
- Caitlin M. Casey,
- David Fernandez-Arenas,
- Maximilien Franco,
- Adriano Fontana,
- Bunyo Hatsukade,
- Luis C. Ho,
- Ryota Ikeda,
- Jeyhan Kartaltepe,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Jed McKinney,
- Lorenzo Napolitano,
- Pablo G. Pérez-González,
- Paola Santini,
- Stephen Serjeant,
- Elena Terlevich,
- Roberto Terlevich,
- L. Y. Aaron Yung
Affiliations
- Jorge A. Zavala
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
- Tom Bakx
- Department of Space, Earth, & Environment, Chalmers University of Technology , Chalmersplatsen 4 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
- Ikki Mitsuhashi
- ORCiD
- Waseda Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University , 3-4-1, Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
- Marco Castellano
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , via di Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
- Antonello Calabro
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , via di Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
- Hollis Akins
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , 2515 Speedway Boulevard Stop C1400, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Veronique Buat
- ORCiD
- Aix Marseille Univ , CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
- Caitlin M. Casey
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , 2515 Speedway Boulevard Stop C1400, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- David Fernandez-Arenas
- ORCiD
- Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope , Kamuela, HI 96743, USA; Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica , UNAM Campus Morelia, Apartado postal 3-72, 58090 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
- Maximilien Franco
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , 2515 Speedway Boulevard Stop C1400, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Adriano Fontana
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, 00078, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
- Bunyo Hatsukade
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan; Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies , SOKENDAI, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan; Institute of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015, Japan
- Luis C. Ho
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China; Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- Ryota Ikeda
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan; Department of Astronomy, School of Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies) , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
- Jeyhan Kartaltepe
- Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology , 84 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Jed McKinney
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , 2515 Speedway Boulevard Stop C1400, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Lorenzo Napolitano
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, 00078, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Sapienza , Città Universitaria di Roma - Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 2, 00185, Roma, Italy
- Pablo G. Pérez-González
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850, Madrid, Spain
- Paola Santini
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , via di Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
- Stephen Serjeant
- ORCiD
- School of Physical Sciences, The Open University , Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
- Elena Terlevich
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica , Óptica y Electrónica,Tonantzintla, Puebla, México; Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK; Facultad de Astronomía y Geofísica, Universidad de La Plata , La Plata, Argentina
- Roberto Terlevich
- ORCiD
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica , Óptica y Electrónica,Tonantzintla, Puebla, México; Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK; Facultad de Astronomía y Geofísica, Universidad de La Plata , La Plata, Argentina
- L. Y. Aaron Yung
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad8f38
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 977,
no. 1
p. L9
Abstract
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations on the high-redshift galaxy GHZ2 and report a successful detection of the rest-frame 88 μ m atomic transition from doubly ionized oxygen at z = 12.3327 ± 0.0035. Based on these observations, combined with additional constraints on the [O iii ] 52 μ m line luminosity and previous JWST data, we argue that GHZ2 is likely powered by compact and young star formation and show that it follows well-established relationships found for giant H ii regions and metal-poor star-forming dwarf galaxies that are known to host bright super star clusters. Additionally, these observations provide new constraints on the oxygen electron density (100 ≲ n _e [cm ^−3 ] ≲ 4,000) and dynamical mass ( M _dyn ≈ 3–8 × 10 ^8 M _⊙ ). The existence of these massive starburst systems 13.3 Gyr ago might explain the origin of today’s globular clusters, a long-standing question in astronomy. To test this, we present observational probes to investigate whether sources like GHZ2 are linked to the formation of today’s globular clusters or other more massive compact stellar systems.
Keywords
- Galaxy evolution
- High-redshift galaxies
- Galaxies
- Early universe
- Emission line galaxies
- Starburst galaxies
