New Star Forming Galaxies at z\approx 7 from WFC3 Imaging

Journal article

The addition of Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has led to a dramatic increase in our ability to study the z>6 Universe. The increase in the near-infrared (NIR) sensitivity of WFC3 over previous instruments has enabled us to reach apparent magnitudes approaching 29 (AB). This allows us to probe the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) continuum, redshifted into the NIR at $z>6$. Taking advantage of the large optical depths at this redshift, resulting in the Lyman-alpha break, we use a combination of WFC3 imaging and pre-existing Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) imaging to search for z approx 7 over 4 fields. Our analysis reveals 29 new z approx 7 star forming galaxy candidates in addition to 16 pre-existing candidates already discovered in these fields. The improved statistics from our doubling of the robust sample of z-drop candidates confirms the previously observed evolution of the bright end of the luminosity function.

Authors: Wilkins, S; Bunker, A; Lorenzoni, S; Caruana, J

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: 2011MNRAS.411...23W
• Volume: 411
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 23-36
• Publication date: 2010-02-25
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17626.x
• EISSN: 1365-2966
• ISSN: 0035-8711
• Language: English
• Keywords: astro-ph.CO