High redshift Lya emitters: clues on the Milky Way infancy

Abstract

With the aim of determining if Milky Way (MW) progenitors could be identified as high redshift Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs) we have derived the intrinsic properties of z ~ 5.7 MW progenitors, which are then used to compute their observed Lyman-alpha luminosity, L_alpha, and equivalent width, EW. MW progenitors visible as LAEs are selected according to the canonical observational criterion, L_alpha > 10^42 erg/s and EW > 20 A. Progenitors of MW-like galaxies have L_alpha = 10^(39-43.25) erg/s, making some of them visible as LAEs. In any single MW merger tree realization, typically only 1 (out of ~ 50) progenitor meets the LAE selection criterion, but the probability to have at least one LAE is very high, P = 68%. The identified LAE stars have ages, t_* ~ 150-400 Myr at z ~ 5.7 with the exception of five small progenitors with t_* < 5 Myr and large EW = 60-130 A. LAE MW progenitors provide > 10% of the halo very metal-poor stars [Fe/H] < -2, thus establishing a potentially fruitful link between high-z galaxies and the Local Universe.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS letter

References in corpus (7)

• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS). IV. Evolution of Lya Emitters from z=3.1 to 5.7 in the 1 deg^2 Field: Luminosity Functions and AGN
• The End of the Reionization Epoch Probed by Ly-alpha Emitters at z=6.5 in the Subaru Deep Field
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• Life and times of dwarf spheroidal galaxies
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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Statistics of 207 Lya Emitters at a Redshift Near 7: Constraints on Reionization and Galaxy Formation Models
• An Intensely Star-Forming Galaxy at z~7 with Low Dust and Metal Content Revealed by Deep ALMA and HST Observations
• Metals and ionizing photons from dwarf galaxies
• The history of the dark and luminous side of Milky Way-like progenitors
• Faint LAEs near z>4.7 CIV absorbers revealed by MUSE
• Lyman-α Emitters in the context of hierarchical galaxy formation: predictions for VLT/MUSE surveys
• Local Group progenitors: Lyman Alpha bright?
• Gravitational Wave Sources from Pop III Stars are Preferentially Located within the Cores of their Host Galaxies
• Carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars in different environments
• CLUES to the past: Local Group progenitors amongst high-redshift Lyman Break Galaxies