Oteo, I.; Ivison, R. J.; Dunne, L.; Manilla-Robles, A.; Maddox, S.; Lewis, A. J. R.; de Zotti, G.; Bremer, M.; Clements, D. L.; Cooray, A.; Dannerbauer, H.; Eales, S.; Greenslade, J.; Omont, A.; Perez–Fournón, I.; Riechers, D.; Scott, D.; van der Werf, P.; Weiss, A.; Zhang, Z.-Y.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 856, Issue 1, article id. 72, 12 pp. (2018).
Description
We report the identification of an extreme protocluster of galaxies in
the early universe whose core (nicknamed Distant Red Core, DRC, because
of its very red color in Herschel SPIRE bands) is formed by at least 10
dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs), spectroscopically confirmed to lie
at {z}spec}=4.002 via detection of [C I](1–0),
12CO(6–5), 12CO(4–3),
12CO(2–1), and
{{{H}}}2{{O}}({2}11{--}{2}02) emission
lines with ALMA and ATCA. These DSFGs are distributed over a 260
{kpc}× 310 {kpc} region and have a collective obscured star
formation rate (SFR) of ∼ 6500 {M}ȯ
{yr}}-1, considerably higher than those seen before in any
protocluster at z≳ 4. Most of the star formation is taking place in
luminous DSFGs since no Lyα emitters are detected in the
protocluster core, apart from a Lyα blob located next to one of
the DRC components, extending over 60 {kpc}. The total obscured SFR of
the protocluster could rise to {SFR}∼ {{14,400}} {M}ȯ
{yr}}-1 if all the members of an overdensity of bright
DSFGs discovered around DRC in a wide-field Large APEX BOlometer CAmera
870 μm image are part of the same structure. [C I](1–0)
emission reveals that DRC has a total molecular gas mass of at least
{M}{{{H}}2}∼ 6.6× {10}11
{M}ȯ , and its total halo mass could be as high as ∼
4.4× {10}13 {M}ȯ , indicating that it
is the likely progenitor of a cluster at least as massive as Coma at z =
0.
Related projects
Formation and Evolution of Galaxies: Observations in Infrared and other Wavelengths
This IAC research group carries out several extragalactic projects in different spectral ranges, using space as well as ground-based telescopes, to study the cosmological evolution of galaxies and the origin of nuclear activity in active galaxies. The group is a member of the international consortium which built the SPIRE instrument for the
Molecular Gas and Dust in Galaxies Across Cosmic Time
Two of the most fundamental questions in astrophysics are the conversion of molecular gas into stars and how this physical process is a function of environments on all scales, ranging from planetary systems, stellar clusters, galaxies to galaxy clusters. The main goal of this internal project is to get insight into the formation and evolution of
