Discovery of a single faint AGN in a large sample of z > 5 Lyman break galaxies - Archive ouverte HAL
Article Dans Une Revue Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Année : 2007

Discovery of a single faint AGN in a large sample of z > 5 Lyman break galaxies

Résumé

As part of a large spectroscopic survey of z > 5 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs), we have identified a single source which is clearly hosting an active galactic nucleus (AGN). Out of a sample of more than 50 spectroscopically confirmed R-band dropout galaxies at z ~ 5 and above, only J104048.6-115550.2 at z = 5.44 shows evidence for a high ionization potential emission line indicating the presence of a hard ionizing continuum from an AGN. Like most objects in our sample the rest-frame-UV spectrum shows the UV continuum breaking across a Lyalpha line. Uniquely within this sample of LBGs, emission from NV is also detected, a clear signature of AGN photoionization. The object is spatially resolved in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging. This, and the comparatively high Lyalpha/NV flux ratio indicates that the majority of the Lyalpha (and the UV continuum longward of it) originates from stellar photoionization, a product of the ongoing starburst in the LBG. Even without the AGN emission, this object would have been photometrically selected and spectroscopically confirmed as a Lyman break in our survey. The measured optical flux (IAB = 26.1) is therefore an upper limit to that from the AGN and is of order 100 times fainter than the majority of known quasars at these redshifts. The detection of a single object in our survey volume is consistent with the best current models of high redshift AGN luminosity function, providing a substantial fraction of such AGN is found within luminous starbursting galaxies. We discuss the cosmological implications of this discovery.

Dates et versions

hal-03742395 , version 1 (02-08-2022)

Identifiants

Citer

Laura S. Douglas, Malcolm N. Bremer, Elizabeth R. Stanway, Matthew D. Lehnert. Discovery of a single faint AGN in a large sample of z > 5 Lyman break galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2007, 376, pp.1393-1398. ⟨10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11546.x⟩. ⟨hal-03742395⟩
3 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

More