2002/08/23 by Michael J. Ledlow, M. J. Ledlow, Ian Smail +6 · 2 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/344334
published as Astrophys.J. 577 (2002) L79-L82 · to appear in the Oct 1 issue of ApJ Letters
arxiv created 2002/08/23 · openalex publication_date 2002/09/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We have identified counterparts to two submillimeter (submm) sources, SMM J09429+4659 and SMM J09431+4700, seen through the core of the z=0.41 cluster Abell 851. We employ deep 1.4-GHz observations and the far-infrared/radio correlation to refine the submm positions and then optical and near-infrared imaging to locate their counterparts. We identify an extremely red counterpart to SMM J09429+4659, while GMOS spectroscopy with Gemini-North shows that the R=23.8 radio source identified with SMM J09431+4700 is a hyperluminous infrared galaxy (LFIR~1.5x1013 Lsun) at z=3.35, the highest spectroscopic redshift so far for a galaxy discovered in the submm. The emission line properties of this galaxy are characteristic of a narrow-line Seyfert-1, although the lack of detected X-ray emission in a deep XMM-Newton observation suggests that the bulk of the luminosity of this galaxy is derived from massive star formation. We suggest that active nuclei, and the outflows they engender, may be an important part of the evolution of the brightest submm galaxies at high redshifts.