JWST and ALMA Multiple-Line Study in and around a Galaxy at z=8.496: Optical to FIR Line Ratios and the Onset of an Outflow Promoting Ionizing Photon Escape

Seiji Fujimoto*, Masami Ouchi, Kimihiko Nakajima, Yuichi Harikane, Yuki Isobe, Gabriel Brammer, Masamune Oguri, Clara Giménez Arteaga, Kasper Elm Heintz, Vasilii Kokorev, Claudia del P. Lagos, Francesco Maria Valentino, Darach Jafar Watson, Victoria Bellinger Strait, Sune Toft

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

We present ALMA deep spectroscopy for a lensed galaxy at zspec=8.496 with log(Mstar/M⊙)∼7.8 whose optical nebular lines and stellar continuum are detected by JWST/NIRSpec and NIRCam Early Release Observations in SMACS0723. Our ALMA spectrum shows [OIII]88 μm and [CII]158 μm line detections at 4.0σ and 4.5σ, respectively. The redshift and position of the [OIII] line coincide with those of the JWST source, while the [CII] line is blue-shifted by 90 km s −1 with a spatial offset of 0.′′5 kpc in source plane) from the JWST source. The NIRCam F444W image, including [OIII] λ 5007 and H β line emission, spatially extends beyond the stellar components by a factor of >8. This indicates that the z=8.5 galaxy has already experienced strong outflows whose oxygen and carbon produce the extended [OIII] λ5007 and the offset [CII] emission, which would promote ionizing photon escape and facilitate reionization. With careful slit-loss corrections and removals of emission spatially outside the galaxy, we evaluate the [OIII]88 μm 5007 line ratio, and derive the electron density ne by photoionization modeling to be 220+170−100 cm −3, which is comparable with those of z∼2−3 galaxies. We estimate an [OIII]88 μm/[CII]158 μm line ratio in the galaxy of >4, as high as those of known z∼6−9 galaxies. This high [OIII]88 μm/[CII]158 μm line ratio is generally explained by the high neas well as the low metallicity ( Zgas/Z⊙=0.04+0.02−0.02) high ionization parameter ( logU>−2.27), and low carbon-to-oxygen abundance ratio (log(C/O) =[−0.52:−0.24]) obtained from the JWST/NIRSpec data; further [CII] follow-up observations will constrain the covering fraction of photodissociation regions.
Original languageEnglish
Article number146
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume964
Issue number2
Number of pages21
ISSN0004-637X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Mar 2024

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