2011/04/27 by Carlos De Breuck, C. De Breuck, Roberto Maiolino +8 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Dwarf galaxy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Interstellar medium #Metallicity #Physics #Redshift #Star formation #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.CO
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201116868
5 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters
arxiv created 2011/04/27 · openalex publication_date 2011/04/27 · arxiv updated 2015/05/28 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present the detection of bright [CII] emission in the z = 4.76 submillimetre galaxy LESS J033229.4-275619 using the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment. This represents the highest redshift [CII] detection in a submm selected, star-formation dominated system. The AGN contributions to the [CII] and far-infrared (FIR) luminosities are small. We find an atomic mass derived from [CII] comparable to the molecular mass derived from CO. The ratio of the [CII], CO and FIR luminosities imply a radiation field strength G0 ~ 103 and a density ~ 104 cm-3 in a kpc-scale starburst, as seen in local and high redshift starbursts. The high L [CII] /LFIR = 2.4 × 10-3 and the very high L [CII] /LCO(1 − 0) ≈ 104 are reminiscent of low metallicity dwarf galaxies, suggesting that the highest redshift star-forming galaxies may also be characterised by lower metallicities. We discuss the implications of a reduced metallicity on studies of the gas reservoirs, and conclude that especially at very high redshift, [CII] may be a more powerful and reliable tracer of the interstellar matter than CO.