The cold interstellar medium of a normal sub-$L^{\star }$ galaxy at the end of reionization

Abstract

We present the results of a ~60-hr observational campaign with ALMA targeting a spectroscopically confirmed and lensed sub-$L^{\star }$ galaxy at z=6.07, identified during the ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey (ALCS). We sample the dust continuum emission from rest frame 90 to 370 $\mu$m at six different frequencies and set constraining upper limits on the molecular gas line emission and content via CO(7-6) and [CI](2-1) for two lensed images with $\mu \gtrsim 20$. Complementing these sub-mm observations with deep optical and near-IR photometry and spectroscopy with JWST, we find this galaxy to form stars at a rate of SFR~7 Msun/yr, ~50-70% of which is obscured by dust. This is consistent with what is expected for a $M_{\star }$~7.5$\times 10^8$ Msun object by extrapolating the $M_{\star }$-obscured SFR fraction relation at z<2.5 and with observations at 5<z<7. The dust temperature of ~50K is similar to that of more massive galaxies at similar redshifts, although with large uncertainties and with possible negative gradients. We measure a dust mass of $M_{\mathrm{dust}}$~1.5$\times 10^6$ Msun and, by combining [CI], [CII], and a dynamical estimate, a gas mass of ~2$\times 10^9$ Msun. Their ratio is in good agreement with the predictions from models in the literature. The $M_{\mathrm{dust}}$/$M_{\star }$ fraction of ~0.002 and the young stellar age are consistent with dust production via supernovae. Also, models predict a number density of galaxies with $M_{\mathrm{dust}}\sim 10^6$ Msun at z=6 in agreement with our estimate from the parent ALCS survey. The combination of lensing and multiwavelength observations allow us to probe luminosity regimes up to two orders of magnitude lower than what has been explored so far for field galaxies at similar redshifts. Our results serve as a benchmark for future observations of faint sub-$L^{\star }$ galaxy population that might have driven the reionization of the Universe. [Abridged]

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in A&A; 13 pages+appendix; supplementary figures: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10703293. See also the companion papers on arXiv: Fujimoto+2024 and Giménez-Arteaga+2024

References in corpus (103)

• Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003
• The chemical composition of the Sun
• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-Forming Galaxies
• Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
• Infrared Emission from Interstellar Dust. IV. The Silicate-Graphite-PAH Model in the Post-Spitzer Era
• Multiwavelength study of massive galaxies at z~2. I. Star formation and galaxy growth
• Calibrating Extinction-Free Star Formation Rate Diagnostics with 33GHz Free-Free Emission in NGC6946
• Inferring the star-formation histories of massive quiescent galaxies with BAGPIPES: Evidence for multiple quenching mechanisms
• The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope I. Overview of the instrument and its capabilities
• Gas-to-Dust mass ratios in local galaxies over a 2 dex metallicity range
• Dust-Corrected Star Formation Rates of Galaxies. II. Combinations of Ultraviolet and Infrared Tracers
• The Stellar Populations and Evolution of Lyman Break Galaxies
• The Evolving Interstellar Medium of Star Forming Galaxies Since z=2 as Probed by Their Infrared Spectral Energy Distributions
• Towards an understanding of the rapid decline of the cosmic star formation rate
• MACS: A quest for the most massive galaxy clusters in the universe
• On the effect of the Cosmic Microwave Background in high-redshift (sub-)millimeter observations
• A dusty, normal galaxy in the epoch of reionization
• The Cosmic Baryon and Metal Cycles
• Herschel-ATLAS: Rapid evolution of dust in galaxies in the last 5 billion years
• The dust content of galaxies from z = 0 to z = 9
• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] Survey: data processing, catalogs, and statistical source properties
• The [C II] emission as a molecular gas mass tracer in galaxies at low and high redshift
• Optical-IR Spectral Energy Distributions of z>2 Lyman Break Galaxies
• Galaxy Formation and Reionization: Key Unknowns and Expected Breakthroughs by the James Webb Space Telescope
• A systematic metallicity study of DustPedia galaxies reveals evolution in the dust-to-metal ratios
• Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey: Selection and Characterization of Luminous Interstellar Medium Reservoirs in the z>6.5 Universe
• RELICS: Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey
• An Atlas of Color-selected Quiescent Galaxies at $z>3$ in Public $JWST$ Fields
• Production of dust by massive stars at high redshift
• The Constant Average Relationship between Dust-obscured Star Formation and Stellar Mass from $z=0$ to $z=2.5$
• The Dust-to-Gas and Dust-to-Metals Ratio in Galaxies from z=0-6
• The Herschel Comprehensive (U)LIRG Emission Survey (HerCULES): CO Ladders, fine structure lines, and neutral gas cooling
• Star formation relations and CO SLEDs across the J-ladder and redshift
• A Survey of Atomic Carbon at High Redshift
• Dynamical properties of z $\sim 4.5$ dusty star-forming galaxies and their connection with local early type galaxies
• ISM properties of a Massive Dusty Star-Forming Galaxy discovered at z ~ 7
• L'CO/LFIR Relations with CO Rotational Ladders of Galaxies Across the Herschel SPIRE Archive
• Normal, Dust-Obscured Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization
• The REBELS ALMA Survey: cosmic dust temperature evolution out to z $\sim$ 7
• The ALMA REBELS Survey: Dust Continuum Detections at z > 6.5
• Molecular gas in the Herschel-selected strongly lensed submillimeter galaxies at z~2-4 as probed by multi-J CO lines
• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] survey: Dust attenuation properties and obscured star formation at z~4.4-5.8
• The ALMA REBELS Survey: the dust content of $z\sim 7$ Lyman Break Galaxies
• A Survey of Atomic Carbon [C I] in High-redshift Main-Sequence Galaxies
• The ALMA Spectroscopic Survey in the HUDF: CO Excitation and Atomic Carbon in Star-Forming Galaxies at $z=1-3$
• High-J CO Versus Far-Infrared Relations in Normal and Starburst Galaxies
• Dust production 680-850 million years after the Big Bang
• CI emission in Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxies as a molecular gas mass tracer
• The assembly of dusty galaxies at $z\ge 4$: statistical properties
• The SCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey - III. Dust along the Hubble sequence
• The ALMA REBELS Survey: The Dust-obscured Cosmic Star Formation Rate Density at Redshift 7
• Is atomic carbon a good tracer of molecular gas in metal-poor galaxies?
• Dust and star-formation properties of a complete sample of local galaxies drawn from the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue
• Turbulent Gas in Lensed Planck-selected Starbursts at redshifts 1-3.5
• A Herschel Space Observatory Spectral Line Survey of Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies from 194 to 671 Microns
• Detailed dust modelling in the L-Galaxies semi-analytic model of galaxy formation
• Measures of galaxy dust and gas mass with Herschel photometry and prospects for ALMA
• A dusty compact object bridging galaxies and quasars at cosmic dawn
• The properties of the interstellar medium of galaxies across time as traced by the neutral atomic carbon [CI]
• Dual constraints with ALMA: new [O III] 88 $\mu$m and dust-continuum observations reveal the ISM conditions of luminous LBGs at $z\sim 7$
• Dust Attenuation, Star Formation, and Metallicity in z ~ 2-3 Galaxies from KBSS-MOSFIRE
• Spatially Resolved Properties of High Redshift Galaxies in the SMACS0723 JWST ERO Field
• Dust, CO and [CI]: Cross-calibration of molecular gas mass tracers in metal-rich galaxies across cosmic time
• Accurate dust temperature determination in a $z=7.13$ galaxy
• COLDz: A High Space Density of Massive Dusty Starburst Galaxies ~1 Billion Years after the Big Bang
• Dust temperature in ALMA $\hbox{[C $\scriptstyle\rm II $]}$-detected high-$z$ galaxies
• The degeneracy between dust colour temperature and spectral index. Comparison of methods for estimating the beta(T) relation
• Planck's dusty GEMS. VI. Multi-J CO excitation and interstellar medium conditions in dusty starburst galaxies at z=2-4
• Deceptively cold dust in the massive starburst galaxy GN20 at $z\sim 4$
• Significant Dust-Obscured Star Formation in Luminous Lyman-break Galaxies at $z$$\sim$$7$$-$$8$
• ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey: $HST$ and $Spitzer$ Photometry of 33 Lensed Fields Built with CHArGE
• The origin of dust in galaxies across cosmic time
• CO emission in distant galaxies on and above the main sequence
• ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey: Bright [CII] 158 $\mu$m Lines from a Multiply Imaged Sub-$L^{\star }$ Galaxy at $z=6.0719$
• ALMA reveals extended cool gas and hot ionized outflows in a typical star-forming galaxy at $z=7.13$
• The gas and stellar content of a metal-poor galaxy at $z=8.496$ as revealed by JWST and ALMA
• Molecular gas in z~6 quasar host galaxies
• An empirical study of dust properties at the earliest epochs
• CO excitation, molecular gas density and interstellar radiation field in local and high-redshift galaxies
• The assembly of dusty galaxies at $z\ge 4$: the build-up of stellar mass and its scaling relations with hints from early JWST data
• Constraining dust formation in high-redshift young galaxies
• Planck's Dusty GEMS. VII. Atomic carbon and molecular gas in dusty starburst galaxies at z=2 to 4
• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] survey: Dust mass budget in the early Universe
• ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey: ALMA-Herschel Joint Study of Lensed Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies across $z\simeq 0.5-6$
• Direct measurement of the [CI] luminosity to molecular gas mass conversion factor in high-redshift star-forming galaxies
• Outshining in the Spatially Resolved Analysis of a Strongly-Lensed Galaxy at z=6.072 with JWST NIRCam
• The dust mass function from z~0 to z~2
• The subthermal excitation of the C{\sc i} lines in the molecular gas reservoirs of galaxies: its significance and potential utility
• ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey: a strongly lensed multiply imaged dusty system at $z\ge$6
• Extreme conditions in the molecular gas of lensed star-forming galaxies at z~3
• A Model Connecting Galaxy Masses, Star Formation Rates, and Dust Temperatures Across Cosmic Time
• Bright Extragalactic ALMA Redshift Survey (BEARS) III: Detailed study of emission lines from 71 Herschel targets
• Dust depletion of of metals from local to distant galaxies II: Cosmic dust-to-metal ratio and dust composition
• The cosmic build-up of dust and metals. Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at $1.7<z<6.3$
• COOL-LAMPS I. An Extraordinarily Bright Lensed Galaxy at Redshift 5.04
• The dust-to-gas mass ratio of luminous galaxies as a function of their metallicity at cosmic noon
• Observations of neutral carbon in 29 high-z lensed dusty star forming galaxies and the comparison of gas mass tracers
• High resolution spectral imaging of CO(7-6), [CI](2-1) and continuum of three high-z lensed dusty star-forming galaxies using ALMA
• Dust attenuation in galaxies at cosmic dawn from the FirstLight simulations
• The archival discovery of a strong Lyman-$\alpha$ and [CII] emitter at z = 7.677
• Molecular gas content and high excitation of a massive main-sequence galaxy at z = 3

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Spectroscopic confirmation of two luminous galaxies at $z\sim 14$
• Outshining in the Spatially Resolved Analysis of a Strongly-Lensed Galaxy at z=6.072 with JWST NIRCam
• A Dusty Dawn: Galactic Dust Buildup at $z\gtrsim 5$
• CEERS: Forging the First Dust Grains in the Universe? A Population of Galaxies with spectroscopically-derived Extremely Low Dust Attenuation (GELDA) at 4.0<z<11.4
• Unveiling dust, molecular gas, and high star formation efficiency in extremely UV bright star-forming galaxies at $z\sim 2.1-3.6$
• Dust and gas modelling in radiative transfer simulations of disc-dominated galaxies with RADMC-3D
• Hiding behind a curtain of dust: Gas and dust properties of an ultra-luminous strongly-lensed z = 3.75 galaxy behind the Milky Way disk
• The ALMA View of High-Redshift Galaxy Formation