Luminous Merger Between Two Star-forming Galaxies 1.7Gyr After the Big Bang

Pitchford, Kate; Cairns, Joe; Farrah, Duncan; Clements, David; Hatziminaoglou, Evanthia; Perez-Fournon, Ismael; Wang, Lingyu
Referencia bibliográfica

American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts

Fecha de publicación:
1
2023
Número de autores
7
Número de autores del IAC
1
Número de citas
0
Número de citas referidas
0
Descripción
The bulk of stellar and black hole mass buildup in galaxies occurs in the high-redshift Universe in short, intense bursts of star formation and black hole accretion. However, the exact role of these two processes in assembling galaxies, as well as how much they affect one another, remains unclear. It is thus important to create case studies of high-redshift systems in which they can be studied together to determine how they are triggered and proceed. To this end, I will focus on the SDSS J160705.16+533558.6 system at z = 3.65, which harbors a luminous quasar and is forming new stars at rates in excess of 1000 M⊙yr-1. IR observations from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 and sub-mm observations from the Submillimeter Array are both consistent with the system being a merger between two galaxies, one of which houses the quasar. Fitting the spectral energy distribution of the system gives estimates for the stellar and black hole masses, which are found to be comparable to those of local ellipticals. Therefore, this system is consistent with a merger-driven formation at z > 3 of at least some giant ellipticals at z < 0.2.