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arXiv · astro-ph/0501478

An overdensity of galaxies at z=5.9 +/-0.2 in the Ultra Deep Field confirmed using the ACS grism

Abstract

We present grism spectra taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys to identify 29 red sources with (i'-z') > 0.9 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). Of these 23 are found to be galaxies at redshifts between z=5.4 and 6.7, identified by the break at 1216 angstrom due to IGM absorption; two are late type dwarf stars with red colors; and four are galaxies with colors and spectral shape similar to dust reddened or old galaxies at redshifts z~1-2. This constitutes the largest uniform, flux-limited sample of spectroscopically confirmed galaxies at such faint fluxes z'<27.5. Many are also among the most distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxies (at redshifts up to z=6.7). We find a significant overdensity of galaxies at redshifts z=5.9 +/- 0.2. Nearly two thirds of the galaxies in our sample (15/23) belong to this peak. Taking into account the selection function and the redshift sensitivity of the survey, we get a conservative overdensity of at least a factor of two along the line-of-sight. The galaxies found in this redshift peak are also localized in the plane of the sky in a non-random manner, occupying about half of the ACS chip. Thus the volume overdensity is a factor of four. The star-formation rate derived from detected sources in this overdense region is sufficient to reionize the local IGM.

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S. Malhotra, J. E. Rhoads, N. Pirzkal, Z. Haiman, C. Xu, E. Daddi, H. Yan, L. E. Bergeron, J. Wang, H. A. Ferguson, A. Koekemoer, L. A. Moustakas, N. Panagia, M. Stiavelli, J. Walsh, R. A. Windhorst, A. Pasquali, C. Gronwall, M. Kuemmel, S. di Serego Alighieri. 2005-03-02. An overdensity of galaxies at z=5.9 +/-0.2 in the Ultra Deep Field confirmed using the ACS grism. https://doi.org/10.1086/430047

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