Probing the high-redshift universe with SPICA: Toward the epoch of reionisation and beyond

Egami, E.; Gallerani, S.; Schneider, R.; Pallottini, A.; Vallini, L.; Sobacchi, E.; Ferrara, A.; Bianchi, S.; Bocchio, M.; Marassi, S.; Armus, L.; Spinoglio, L.; Blain, A. W.; Bradford, M.; Clements, D. L.; Dannerbauer, H.; Fernández-Ontiveros, J. A.; González-Alfonso, E.; Griffin, M. J.; Gruppioni, C.; Kaneda, H.; Kohno, K.; Madden, S. C.; Matsuhara, H.; Najarro, F.; Nakagawa, T.; Oliver, S.; Omukai, K.; Onaka, T.; Pearson, C.; Perez-Fournon, I.; Pérez-González, P. G.; Schaerer, D.; Scott, D.; Serjeant, S.; Smith, J. D.; van der Tak, F. F. S.; Wada, T.; Yajima, H.
Bibliographical reference

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, Volume 35, pp. -

Advertised on:
12
2018
Number of authors
39
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
16
Refereed citations
15
Description
With the recent discovery of a dozen dusty star-forming galaxies and around 30 quasars at z > 5 that are hyper-luminous in the infrared (μ L IR > 1013 L⊙, where μ is a lensing magnification factor), the possibility has opened up for SPICA, the proposed ESA M5 mid-/far-infrared mission, to extend its spectroscopic studies toward the epoch of reionisation and beyond. In this paper, we examine the feasibility and scientific potential of such observations with SPICA's far-infrared spectrometer SAFARI, which will probe a spectral range (35-230 μm) that will be unexplored by ALMA and JWST. Our simulations show that SAFARI is capable of delivering good-quality spectra for hyper-luminous infrared galaxies at z = 5 - 10, allowing us to sample spectral features in the rest-frame mid-infrared and to investigate a host of key scientific issues, such as the relative importance of star formation versus AGN, the hardness of the radiation field, the level of chemical enrichment, and the properties of the molecular gas. From a broader perspective, SAFARI offers the potential to open up a new frontier in the study of the early Universe, providing access to uniquely powerful spectral features for probing first-generation objects, such as the key cooling lines of low-metallicity or metal-free forming galaxies (fine-structure and H2 lines) and emission features of solid compounds freshly synthesised by Population III supernovae. Ultimately, SAFARI's ability to explore the high-redshift Universe will be determined by the availability of sufficiently bright targets (whether intrinsically luminous or gravitationally lensed). With its launch expected around 2030, SPICA is ideally positioned to take full advantage of upcoming wide-field surveys such as LSST, SKA, Euclid, and WFIRST, which are likely to provide extraordinary targets for SAFARI.
Related projects
Project Image
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

Ismael
Pérez Fournon
Project Image
The Central PARSEC of Galaxies using High Spatial Resolution Techniques

PARSEC is a multi-wavelength investigation of the central PARSEC of the nearest galaxies. We work on black-hole accretion and its most energetic manifestations: jets and hot spots, and on its circumnuclear environment conditions for star formation. We resort to the highest available angular resolution observations from gamma-rays to the centimetre

Almudena
Prieto Escudero
Galaxy proto-cluster
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

Helmut
Dannerbauer