MNRAS-2010-Wilkins-938-44.pdf (4.35 MB)
Probing ~L* Lyman-break galaxies at z˜ 7 in GOODS-South with WFC3 on Hubble Space Telescope
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 14:48 authored by Stephen WilkinsStephen Wilkins, Andrew J Bunker, Richard S Ellis, Daniel Stark, Elizabeth R Stanway, Kuenley Chiu, Silvio Lorenzoni, Matt J JarvisWe analyse recently acquired near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS)-South field to search for star-forming galaxies at z˜ 7.0. By comparing Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) 0.98 µm Y-band images with Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) z-band (0.85 µm) images, we identify objects with colours consistent with Lyman-break galaxies at z? 6.4–7.4. This new data cover an area five times larger than that previously reported in the WFC3 imaging of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and affords a valuable constraint on the bright end of the luminosity function. Using additional imaging of the region in the ACS B, V and i bands from GOODS v2.0 and the WFC3J band, we attempt to remove any low-redshift interlopers. Our selection criteria yields six candidates brighter than YAB= 27.0, of which all except one are detected in the ACS z-band imaging and are thus unlikely to be transients. Assuming all six candidates are at z˜ 7, this implies a surface density of objects brighter than YAB= 27.0 of 0.30 ± 0.12 arcmin-2, a value significantly smaller than the prediction from z˜ 6 luminosity function. This suggests continued evolution of the bright end of the luminosity function between z= 6 and 7, with number densities lower at higher redshift.
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- Published
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- Published version
Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyISSN
0035-8711Publisher
Wiley-BlackwellExternal DOI
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2Volume
403Page range
938-944Department affiliated with
- Physics and Astronomy Publications
Full text available
- Yes
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- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2013-04-26First Open Access (FOA) Date
2016-03-22First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-11-10Usage metrics
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