학술논문
The Web Epoch of Reionization Lyman-$\alpha$ Survey (WERLS) I. MOSFIRE Spectroscopy of $\mathbf{z \sim 7-8}$ Lyman-$\alpha$ Emitters
Document Type
Working Paper
Author
Cooper, Olivia R.; Casey, Caitlin M.; Akins, Hollis B.; Magee, Jake; Melendez, Alfonso; Fong, Mia; Stawinski, Stephanie M. Urbano; Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S.; Finkelstein, Steven L.; Larson, Rebecca L.; Jung, Intae; Bista, Ash; Champagne, Jaclyn B.; Ortiz, Oscar A. Chavez; Coffin, Sadie; Cooper, M. C.; Drakos, Nicole; Faisst, Andreas L.; Franco, Maximilien; Fujimoto, Seiji; Gillman, Steven; Gozaliasl, Ghassem; Harish, Santosh; Hutchison, Taylor A.; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Kokorev, Vasily; Lertprasertpong, Jitrapon; Liu, Daizhong; Long, Arianna S.; Papovich, Casey; Rich, R. Michael; Robertson, Brant E.; Talia, Margherita; Vanderhoof, Brittany N.; Whitaker, Katherine E.; Zavala, Jorge A.
Source
Subject
Language
Abstract
We present the first results from the Web Epoch of Reionization Lyman-$\alpha$ Survey (WERLS), a spectroscopic survey of Lyman-$\alpha$ emission using Keck I/MOSFIRE and LRIS. WERLS targets bright ($J<26$) galaxy candidates with photometric redshifts of $5.5\lesssim z \lesssim 8$ selected from pre-JWST imaging embedded in the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) within three JWST deep fields: CEERS, PRIMER, and COSMOS-Web. Here, we report 11 $z\sim7-8$ Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs; 3 secure and 8 tentative candidates) detected in the first five nights of WERLS MOSFIRE data. We estimate our observed LAE yield is $\sim13$%, broadly consistent with expectations assuming some loss from redshift uncertainty, contamination from sky OH lines, and that the Universe is approximately half-ionized at this epoch, whereby observable Lyman-$\alpha$ emission is unlikely for galaxies embedded in a neutral intergalactic medium. Our targets are selected to be UV-bright, and span a range of absolute UV magnitudes with $-23.1 < M_{\text{UV}} < -19.8$. With two LAEs detected at $z=7.68$, we also consider the possibility of an ionized bubble at this redshift. Future synergistic Keck+JWST efforts will provide a powerful tool for pinpointing beacons of reionization and mapping the large scale distribution of mass relative to the ionization state of the Universe.
Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures; ApJ submitted
Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures; ApJ submitted