A Comparison of Rest-frame Ultraviolet and Optical Emission-line Diagnostics in the Lensed Galaxy SDSS J1723+3411 at Redshift z=1.3293

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • J. R. Rigby
  • Michael Florian
  • A. Acharyya
  • Matthew Bayliss
  • Michael D. Gladders
  • Keren Sharon
  • Brammer, Gabriel
  • Ivelina Momcheva
  • Stephanie LaMassa
  • Fuyan Bian
  • Hakon Dahle
  • Traci Johnson
  • Lisa Kewley
  • Katherine Murray
  • Katherine Whitaker
  • Eva Wuyts

For the extremely bright lensed galaxy SDSS J1723+3411 at z = 1.3293, we analyze spatially integrated MMT, Keck, and Hubble Space Telescope spectra that fully cover the rest-frame wavelength range of 1400-7200 A. We also analyze near-IR spectra from Gemini that cover H alpha for a portion of the lensed arc. We report fluxes for 42 detected emission lines, and upper limits for an additional 22. This galaxy has extreme emission-line ratios and high equivalent widths that are characteristic of extreme emission-line galaxies. We compute strong emission-line diagnostics from both the rest-frame optical and rest-frame ultraviolet (UV), to constrain physical conditions and test the spectral diagnostics themselves. We tightly determine the nebular physical conditions using the most reliable diagnostics, and then compare to results from other diagnostics. We find disappointing performance from the UV-only diagnostics: they either are unable to measure the metallicity or dramatically underestimate it; they overestimate the pressure; and the UV diagnostic of ionization parameter has a strong metallicity dependence in this regime. Based on these results, we suggest that upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spectroscopic surveys of galaxies in the reionization epoch should invest the additional integration time to capture the optical [O ii] and [O iii] emission lines, and not rely solely on the rest-frame UV emission lines. We make available the spectra; they represent one of the highest-quality emission-line spectral atlases of star-forming galaxies available beyond the local universe, and will aid the planning of observations with JWST.

Original languageEnglish
Article number154
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume908
Issue number2
Number of pages17
ISSN0004-637X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Feb 2021

    Research areas

  • Gravitational lensing, Galaxy evolution, Atomic spectroscopy, Spectroscopy, Emission line galaxies, Starburst galaxies, Interstellar medium, STAR-FORMING GALAXIES, MASS-METALLICITY RELATION, DEG(2) BLIND SURVEY, PHYSICAL CONDITIONS, IONIZATION PARAMETER, CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION, LUMINOSITY FUNCTION, ELECTRON-DENSITY, DEEP FIELDS, LY-ALPHA

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ID: 299751236