2007/03/30 by C. L. Carilli, Fabian Walter, F. Walter +10 · 11 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Elliptical galaxy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Galaxy merger #Luminous infrared galaxy #Physics #QSOS #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Redshift #Reionization #Star formation #Submillimeter Array #Supermassive black hole #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10509-007-9647-9
published in Astrophysics and Space Science 313(1-3), 307-311 (Springer Science+Business Media) · to appear in Science with ALMA: a new era for Astrophysics}, ed. R. Bachiller (Springer: Berlin); 5 pages, 7 figures
arxiv created 2007/03/30 · openalex publication_date 2007/11/08 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We discuss observations of the first galaxies, within cosmic reionization, at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths. We present a summary of current observations of the host galaxies of the most distant QSOs (z∼6). These observations reveal the gas, dust, and star formation in the host galaxies on kpc-scales. These data imply an enriched ISM in the QSO host galaxies within 1 Gyr of the big bang, and are consistent with models of coeval supermassive black hole and spheroidal galaxy formation in major mergers at high redshift. Current instruments are limited to studying truly pathologic objects at these redshifts, meaning hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (L FIR ∼1013 L ⊙). ALMA will provide the one to two orders of magnitude improvement in millimeter astronomy required to study normal star forming galaxies (i.e. Ly-α emitters) at z∼6. ALMA will reveal, at sub-kpc spatial resolution, the thermal gas and dust—the fundamental fuel for star formation—in galaxies into cosmic reionization.