The Properties of Star-forming Regions within a Galaxy at Redshift 2

M. Swinbank (1) , A. Edge (2) , J. Richard (3) , I. Smail (1) , C. de Breuck (4, 5) , A. Lundgren (6) , G. Siringo (7) , A. Weiss (7) , A. Harris (8) , A. Baker (9) , S. Longmore (10) , R. Ivison (11)

1 ICC - Institute for Computational Cosmology
2 Department of Physics
3 CRAL - Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon
4 IAP - Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
5 Leiden Observatory [Leiden]
6 ESO - European Southern Observatory
7 MPIFR - Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
8 CRUK Medical Oncology Unit
9 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Piscataway]
10 Swinburne University of Technology (Hawthorn campus)
11 ROE - Royal Observatory Edinburgh

The discovery and subsequent follow-up of one of the brightest sub-mm galaxies discovered so far is presented. First identified with the LABOCA instrument on APEX in May 2009, this galaxy lies at z = 2.32 and its brightness of 106 mJy at 870 µm is due to the gravitational magnification caused by a massive intervening galaxy cluster. Follow-up observations with APEX SABOCA have been used to constrain the far-infrared spectral energy distribution and hence measure the star formation rate, and Swedish Heterodyne Facility Instrument observations help constrain the excitation of the cold molecular gas. Furthermore, high resolution follow-up with the sub-mm array resolves the star-forming regions on scales of just 100 parsecs. These results allow study of galaxy formation and evolution at a level of detail never before possible and provide a glimpse of the exciting possibilities for future studies of galaxies at these early times, particularly with ALMA.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]

M. Swinbank, A. Edge, J. Richard, I. Smail, C. de Breuck, et al.. The Properties of Star-forming Regions within a Galaxy at Redshift 2. The Messenger, 2010, 139, pp.42-45. ⟨hal-00660734⟩