A VLT/FORS2 Multi-Slit Search for Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies at z~6.5

Abstract

We present results from a deep spectroscopic search in the 9150A atmospheric window for z~6.5 Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies using the VLT/FORS2. Our multi-slit+narrow-band filter survey covers a total spatial area of 17.6 sq. arcmin in four different fields and reaches fluxes down to 5x10^(-18) erg/s/cm^2 (7 sigma detection). Our detection limit is significantly fainter than narrow-band searches at this redshift and fainter also than the unlensed brightness of Hu et al.'s HCM6A at z=6.56, and thus provides better overlap with surveys at much lower redshifts. Eighty secure emission line galaxies are detected. However, based on their clear continuum emission shortward of the line or the presence of multiple lines, none of these can be Ly-alpha emission at z~6.5. Our null result of finding no z~6.5 Ly-alpha emitters suggests that the number density of Ly-alpha emitters with L>2x10^(42) erg/s declines by ~2 between z~3 and z~6.5.

arXiv commentaccepted by ApJ Letters (originally submitted June 11, 2004)

References in corpus (20)

• The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: Initial Results From Optical and Near-Infrared Imaging
• Rest-Frame Ultraviolet Spectra of z~3 Lyman Break Galaxies
• High-z Lyman-alpha Emitters. I. A Blank-Field Search for Objects Near Redshift z=3.4 in and around the Hubble Deep Field and the Hawaii Deep Field SSA22
• The Density of Lyman-alpha Emitters at Very High Redshift
• A Redshift z = 6.56 Galaxy Behind the Cluster Abell 370
• Subaru Deep Survey II. Luminosity Functions and Clustering Properties of Lya Emitters at z=4.86 in the Subaru Deep Field
• Color-selected galaxies at z~6 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey
• The Luminosity Function of Lyman Alpha Emitters at Redshift z~5.7
• Spectroscopic Confirmation of Three Redshift 5.7 Lyman-alpha Emitters from the Large Area Lyman Alpha Survey
• A Probable z~7 Galaxy Strongly Lensed by the Rich Cluster Abell 2218: Exploring the Dark Ages
• The Discovery of Two Lyman$\alpha$ Emitters Beyond Redshift 6 in the Subaru Deep Field
• Discovery of 9 Ly alpha emitters at redshift z~3.1 using narrow-band imaging and VLT spectroscopy
• A Faint Star-Forming System Viewed Through the Lensing Cluster Abell 2218: First Light at z~5.6?
• Luminous Lyman Break Galaxies at z>5 and the Source of Reionization
• A Subaru Search for Lyman$\alpha$ Emitters at Redshift 5.7
• One-Line Redshifts and Searches for High-Redshift Lyman-Alpha Emission
• Large Cosmic Variance in the Clustering Properties of Lyman Alpha Emitters at z~5
• Constraints to the evolution of Ly-Alpha bright galaxies between z=3 and z=6
• The Space Density of Redshift 5.7 Ly-Alpha Emitters
• Deep Galaxy Surveys in the 9150 A Airglow Window

Cited by in corpus (26)

• Observational constraints on Cosmic Reionization
• 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
• Luminosity functions of Lyman-alpha emitters at z=6.5, and z=5.7: evidence against reionization at z=6
• The HETDEX Pilot Survey. II. The Evolution of the Ly-alpha Escape Fraction from the UV Slope and Luminosity Function of 1.9<z<3.8 LAEs
• The Impact of The IGM on High-Redshift Lyman Alpha Emission Lines
• The Reionization and Galaxy Evolution Probed by z=7 Lyman Alpha Emitters
• The properties of Ly-alpha emitting galaxies in hierarchical galaxy formation models
• Detection of Intracluster Planetary Nebulae in the Coma Cluster
• The Kinematics of Intracluster Planetary Nebulae and the On-Going Subcluster Merger in the Coma Cluster Core
• Constraining Reionization with the Evolution of the Luminosity Function of Lyman Alpha mitting Galaxies
• Mapping Neutral Hydrogen During Reionization with the Ly-alpha Emission from Quasar Ionization Fronts
• A Galaxy at z = 6.545 and Constraints on the Epoch of Reionization
• Oxygen Gas Abundances at z~1.4: Implications for the Chemical Evolution History of Galaxies
• Probing Galaxy Formation with He II Cooling Lines
• Photometric properties of Ly alpha emitters at z=4.86 in the COSMOS 2 square degree field
• Serendipitous Discovery of an Overdensity of Lyman-Alpha Emitters at z~4.8 in the Cl1604 Supercluster Field
• An Overdensity of Lyman-alpha Emitters at Redshift z=5.7 near the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
• A Magellan IMACS Spectroscopic Search for Lyman-Alpha Emitting Galaxies at Redshift 5.7
• Detections of Faint Lyman-alpha Emitters at z = 5.7: Galaxy Building Blocks and Engines of Reionization
• The DEEP2 Redshift Survey: Lyman Alpha Emitters in the Spectroscopic Database
• Radio and millimeter properties of $z\sim 5.7$ Ly$\alpha$ emitters in the COSMOS field: limits on radio AGN, submm galaxies, and dust obscuration
• Preliminary Results from a Spectrosopic LyA Survey at Redshift 5.7 with IMACS
• Lyman Alpha Line Spectra of the First Galaxies: Dependence on Observed Direction to the Underlying CDM Filament
• New Results from the Magellan IMACS Spectroscopic Lyman Alpha Survey: NICMOS Observations of Lyman Alpha emitters at z=5.7
• A Search for Lensed Lyman-Alpha Emitters within the Early HETDEX Data Set