Detection of atomic carbon [CII] 158 micron and dust emission from a z=7.1 quasar host galaxy

TL;DR

This paper reports the first detection of the [CII] 158 micron emission line and dust continuum from a z=7.1 quasar host galaxy, providing insights into its physical properties and star formation activity.

Contribution

It presents the highest redshift detection of [CII] emission, constraining the host galaxy's properties at an unprecedented epoch.

Findings

[CII] luminosity is (1.2+/-0.2)x10^9 Lsun, lower than in z=6.42 quasars.

Star formation rate estimated between 160-440 Msun/yr.

Dust mass in the host galaxy is approximately 6.7x10^7 to 5.7x10^8 Msun.

Abstract

Using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer, we report the detection of the 158 micron [CII] emission line and underlying dust continuum in the host galaxy of the quasar ULAS J112001.48+064124.3 (hereafter J1120+0641) at z=7.0842+/-0.0004. This is the highest redshift detection of the [CII] line to date, and allows us to put first constraints on the physical properties of the host galaxy. The [CII] line luminosity is (1.2+/-0.2)x10^9 Lsun, which is a factor ~4 lower than observed in a luminous quasar at z=6.42 (SDSS J1148+5251). The underlying far-infrared (FIR) continuum has a flux density of 0.61+/-0.16 mJy, similar to the average flux density of z~6 quasars that were not individually detected in the rest-frame FIR. Assuming the FIR luminosity of L_FIR = 5.8x10^11-1.8x10^12 Lsun is mainly powered by star-formation, we derive a star-formation rate in the range 160-440 Msun/yr and a total dust mass in the host galaxy of 6.7x10^7-5.7x10^8 Msun (both numbers have significant uncertainties given the unknown nature of dust at these redshifts). The [CII] line width of sigma_V=100+/-15 km/s is among the smallest observed when compared to the molecular line widths detected in z~6 quasars. Both the [CII] and dust continuum emission are spatially unresolved at the current angular resolution of 2.0x1.7 arcsec^2 (corresponding to 10x9 kpc^2 at the redshift of J1120+0641).