Bibcode
Leung, Tsz Kuk Daisy; Riechers, Dominik A.; Clements, David; Cooray, Asantha; Ivison, Rob; Perez-Fournon, I.; Wardlow, Julie
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #231, id.#149.37
Advertised on:
1
2018
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Dusty star-forming galaxies (SFG) at high redshifts are the main
contributors to the comoving star formation rate (SFR) density, which
peaks between the redshift of z=1-3 (``Cosmic Noon''). Yet, new insights
into their gas dynamics, and thus, structural evolution are awaiting
spatially resolved observations. I will present the latest results from
our kpc-scale [CII] imaging and multi-J CO line observations obtained
with ALMA, CARMA, PdBI, and the VLA in one of the most massive
``main-sequence'' disk galaxy known. XMM03 (z=2.9850) is an extremely
IR-luminous galaxy with a SFR of ~3000 Msun/yr, but its molecular gas
excitation is surprisingly similar to the Milky Way up to J=5, which is
in stark contrast with most high-z galaxies studied to date. The
monotonic velocity gradient seen in the [CII] line emission suggest that
it is a rotating disk galaxy. Based on the molecular gas surface density
and the far-UV radiation flux determined from photo-dissociation region
(PDR) modeling, the star-forming environment of XMM03 is similar to
nearby SFGs. These findings together with the ~1100 km/s wide CO(1-0)
line across the entire disk of ~8 kpc in radius showcase the different
interstellar medium (ISM) environment that we are probing at the most
massive end of galaxies in the early Universe. With a stellar mass of
M*~10^12, its specific SFR is consistent with an extrapolation of the
``star-forming main-sequence'' up to M*~10^12 Msun at z~3. Our findings
therefore confirm the prevalence of disk-wide star formation responsible
for assembling most of the stellar masses toward the ``Cosmic Noon''.