STACKED REST-FRAME ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA OF Lyα-EMITTING AND CONTINUUM-SELECTED GALAXIES AT 2 < <i>z</i> < 3.5
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2012
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
We present properties of individual and composite rest-UV spectra of continuum-and narrowband-selected star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at a redshift of 2 < z < 3.5 discovered by the MUSYC collaboration in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South. Among our sample of 81 UV-bright SFGs, 59 have R < 25.5, of which 32 have rest-frame equivalent widths of W-Ly alpha > 20 angstrom, the canonical limit to be classified as an Ly alpha-emitting galaxy. We divide our data set into subsamples based on properties that we are able to measure for each individual galaxy: Ly alpha equivalent width, rest-frame UV colors, and redshift. Among our subsample of galaxies with R < 25.5, those with rest frame W-Ly alpha > 20 angstrom have bluer UV continua, weaker low-ionization interstellar absorption lines, weaker C IV absorption, and stronger Si II* nebular emission than those with W-Ly alpha < 20 angstrom. We measure a velocity offset of Delta nu similar to 600 km s(-1) between Ly alpha emission and low-ionization absorption, which does not vary substantially among any of our subsamples. We find that the interstellar component, as opposed to the stellar component, dominates the high-ionization absorption line profiles. We find that the low-and high-ionization Si ionization states have similar kinematic properties, yet the low-ionization absorption is correlated with Ly alpha emission and the high-ionization absorption is not. These trends are consistent with outflowing neutral gas being in the form of neutral clouds embedded in ionized gas as previously suggested by Steidel et al. Moreover, our galaxies with bluer UV colors have stronger Ly alpha emission, weaker low-ionization absorption, and more prominent nebular emission line profiles. From a redshift of 2.7 < z < 3.5 to 2.0 < z < 2.7, our subsample of galaxies with W-Ly alpha < 20 angstrom shows no significant evolution in their physical properties or the nature of their outflows. Among our data set, UV-bright galaxies with W-Ly alpha > 20 angstrom exhibit weaker Ly alpha emission at lower redshifts, although we caution that this could be caused by spectroscopic confirmation of low Ly alpha equivalent width galaxies being harder at z similar to 3 than z similar to 2.
Description
Keywords
cosmology: observations, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: high-redshift