Rotation on sub-kpc scales in the strongly lensed z~3 'arc&core' and implications for high-redshift galaxy dynamics
Abstract
Strongly lensed galaxies at high redshift provide a unique window into the early universe. We compare the internal kinematics of the strongly lensed Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) 'arc&core' at z=3.2 (the first strongly lensed z~3 LBG with the signs of rotation on sub-kiloparsec scales) with an LBG that is not gravitationally lensed, as well as with a larger sample of actively star-forming galaxies at slightly lower redshifts. All galaxies have deep rest-frame optical integral-field spectroscopy obtained with the VLT. The unlensed galaxies appear to have a larger ratio of random to bulk motion. Field galaxies also have broader lines than strongly lensed LBGs with rest-optical spectroscopy, where spectra were extracted from regions with similar physical size. To ensure observational success, studies of high-redshift galaxy kinematics often focus on bright and luminous targets, and our comparison suggests that this may lead to a serious bias.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0810.1852,
title = {Rotation on sub-kpc scales in the strongly lensed z~3 'arc&core' and implications for high-redshift galaxy dynamics},
author = {N. P. H. Nesvadba and M. D. Lehnert and B. L. Frye},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0810.1852},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
To appear in the proceedings of the annual meeting of the French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics (SF2A) held in Paris, July 2008