A dust-obscured massive maximum-starburst galaxy at a redshift of 6.34

Dominik A Riechers; C M Bradford; D L Clements; C D Dowell; I Pérez-Fournon; A Conley; Hai Fu; R J Ivison; M Krips; J Wardlow; R. E Lupu; M J Page; P. R Maloney; J Calanog; P Martinez-Navajas; G Petitpas; H Matsuhara; A Cooray; E. J Murphy; N Rangwala; B J Naylor; P Hurley; M Béthermin; C Bridge; J Bock; H. T Nguyen; D Burgarella; I. G Roseboom; A Cabrera-Lavers; S. C Chapman; P Cox; S J Oliver; J. S Dunlop; R Neri; L Earle; J D Vieira; D Farrah; A Omont; P Ferrero; D Scott; A Franceschini; J Kamenetzky; R Gavazzi; A J SMITH; J Glenn; J E Aguirre; E. A Gonzalez Solares; J. G Staguhn; M. A Gurwell; B Altieri; M Halpern; A Streblyanska; E Hatziminaoglou; V Arumugam; A Hyde; A P Thomson; E Ibar; D J Benford; A Kovács; I Valtchanov; M Viero; L Wang; M Zemcov

doi:10.1038/nature12050

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A dust-obscured massive maximum-starburst galaxy at a redshift of 6.34

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A dust-obscured massive maximum-starburst galaxy at a redshift of 6.34

Dominik A Riechers, C M Bradford, D L Clements, C D Dowell, I Pérez-Fournon, A Conley, Hai Fu, R J Ivison, M Krips, J Wardlow, …

Nature, Vol.496(7445), pp.329-333

2013

DOI: 10.1038/nature12050

PMID: 23598341

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https://arxiv.org/pdf/1304.4256View

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Abstract

Massive present-day early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies probably gained the bulk of their stellar mass and heavy elements through intense, dust-enshrouded starbursts--that is, increased rates of star formation--in the most massive dark-matter haloes at early epochs. However, it remains unknown how soon after the Big Bang massive starburst progenitors exist. The measured redshift (z) distribution of dusty, massive starbursts has long been suspected to be biased low in z owing to selection effects, as confirmed by recent findings of systems with redshifts as high as ~5 (refs 2-4). Here we report the identification of a massive starburst galaxy at z = 6.34 through a submillimetre colour-selection technique. We unambiguously determined the redshift from a suite of molecular and atomic fine-structure cooling lines. These measurements reveal a hundred billion solar masses of highly excited, chemically evolved interstellar medium in this galaxy, which constitutes at least 40 per cent of the baryonic mass. A 'maximum starburst' converts the gas into stars at a rate more than 2,000 times that of the Milky Way, a rate among the highest observed at any epoch. Despite the overall downturn in cosmic star formation towards the highest redshifts, it seems that environments mature enough to form the most massive, intense starbursts existed at least as early as 880 million years after the Big Bang

Astrophysics

Physics

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Sciences of the Universe

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

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Title: Subtitle: A dust-obscured massive maximum-starburst galaxy at a redshift of 6.34
Creators: Dominik A Riechers
C M Bradford
D L Clements
C D Dowell - Computing and Mathematical Sciences [Pasadena]]
I Pérez-Fournon
A Conley - University of Colorado Boulder
Hai Fu - University of California, Irvine
R J Ivison - UK Astronomy Technology Centre
M Krips - Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique
J Wardlow - University of California, Irvine
R. E Lupu
M J Page
P. R Maloney
J Calanog - University of California, Irvine
P Martinez-Navajas
G Petitpas - Harvard University
H Matsuhara - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
A Cooray - University of California, Irvine
E. J Murphy
N Rangwala - University of Colorado Boulder
B J Naylor
P Hurley - University of Sussex
M Béthermin - Université Paris-Sud
C Bridge - California Institute of Technology
J Bock - California Institute of Technology
H. T Nguyen
D Burgarella - Aix-Marseille Université
I. G Roseboom
A Cabrera-Lavers - Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
S. C Chapman
P Cox - Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique
S J Oliver - Astronomy Centre
J. S Dunlop
R Neri - Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique
L Earle - University of Colorado Boulder
J D Vieira - Computing and Mathematical Sciences [Pasadena]]
D Farrah - Virginia Tech
A Omont - Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
P Ferrero - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
D Scott - University of British Columbia
A Franceschini - University of Padua
J Kamenetzky - University of Colorado Boulder
R Gavazzi - Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
A J SMITH
J Glenn - University of Colorado Boulder
J E Aguirre
E. A Gonzalez Solares
J. G Staguhn
M. A Gurwell
B Altieri - European Space Agency
M Halpern - University of British Columbia
A Streblyanska - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
E Hatziminaoglou - Computing and Mathematical Sciences [Pasadena]]
V Arumugam - University of Edinburgh
A Hyde - Imperial College London
A P Thomson
E Ibar - UK Astronomy Technology Centre
D J Benford
A Kovács - California Institute of Technology
I Valtchanov - European Space Agency
M Viero - California Institute of Technology
L Wang - University of Sussex
M Zemcov - California Institute of Technology
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Nature, Vol.496(7445), pp.329-333
DOI: 10.1038/nature12050
PMID: 23598341
NLM abbreviation: Nature
ISSN: 0028-0836
eISSN: 1476-4679
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Language: English
Date published: 2013
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984199692802771

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