View Item 

Physical conditions of the gas in an ALMA [C II]-identified submillimetre galaxy at z = 4.44

Access Status
Open access
Authors
Huynh, M.
Norris, R.
Seymour, Nick
Coppin, K.
Ivison, R.
Ian, S.
Swinbank, A.
Karim, A.
De Breuck, C.
Smolcic, V.
Brandt, W.
Chapman, S.
Dannerbauer, H.
Greve, T.
Hodge, J.
Knudsen, K.
Menten, K.
Weiss, A.
van der Werf, P.
Date
2013
Type
Journal Article

Metadata
Show full item record
Citation
Huynh, M. and Norris, R. and Seymour, N. and Coppin, K. and Ivison, R. and Ian, S. and Swinbank, A. et al. 2013. Physical conditions of the gas in an ALMA [C II]-identified submillimetre galaxy at z = 4.44. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 431 (1): pp. L88-L92.
Source Title
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
DOI
ISSN
School
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Remarks

This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

URI
Collection
Abstract

We present 12CO(2–1) observations of the submillimetre galaxy ALESS65.1 performed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at 42.3 GHz. A previous Atacama Large Millimeter Array study of submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South detected [C ii] 157.74 μm emission from this galaxy at a redshift of z = 4.44. No 12CO(2–1) emission was detected but we derive a firm upper limit to the cold gas mass in ALESS65.1 of Mgas<1.7×1010 M☉. The estimated gas depletion time-scale is <50 Myr, which is similar to other high-redshift SMGs, and consistent with z > 4 SMGs being the likely progenitors of massive red-and-dead galaxies at z > 2. The ratio of the [C ii], 12CO and far-infrared luminosities implies a strong far-ultraviolet field of G0 ≳ 103, as seen in Galactic star-forming regions or local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). The observed L[CII]/LFIR=2.3×10−3 is high compared to local ULIRGs and, combined with L[CII]/LC~>2700, it is consistent with ALESS65.1 either having an extended (several kpc) [C ii] emitting region or lower than solar metallicity.