Detection of Lyman-Alpha Emission From a Triple Imaged z=6.85 Galaxy Behind MACS J2129.4-0741

TL;DR

This study reports the detection of Lyman-alpha emission from a faint, high-redshift galaxy behind a galaxy cluster, providing insights into galaxies that may have contributed to cosmic reionization.

Contribution

First detection of Lyman-alpha emission from a faint, triply-imaged galaxy at z~6.85 behind MACS J2129.4-0741, highlighting the role of gravitational lensing in studying early galaxies.

Findings

Intrinsic Lyman-alpha luminosity ~1.3×10^42 erg/s

Equivalent width of Lyman-alpha ~74 Å

High Lyman-alpha escape fraction (>10%)

Abstract

We report the detection of Ly$\alpha$ emission at $\sim9538$\AA{} in the Keck/DEIMOS and \HST WFC3 G102 grism data from a triply-imaged galaxy at $z=6.846\pm0.001$ behind galaxy cluster MACS J2129.4$-$0741. Combining the emission line wavelength with broadband photometry, line ratio upper limits, and lens modeling, we rule out the scenario that this emission line is \oii at $z=1.57$. After accounting for magnification, we calculate the weighted average of the intrinsic Ly$\alpha$ luminosity to be $\sim1.3\times10^{42}~\mathrm{erg}~\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ and Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width to be $74\pm15$\AA{}. Its intrinsic UV absolute magnitude at 1600\AA{} is $-18.6\pm0.2$ mag and stellar mass $(1.5\pm0.3)\times10^{7}~M_{\odot}$, making it one of the faintest (intrinsic $L_{UV}\sim0.14~L_{UV}^*$) galaxies with Ly$\alpha$ detection at $z\sim7$ to date. Its stellar mass is in the typical range for the galaxies thought to dominate the reionization photon budget at $z\gtrsim7$; the inferred Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction is high ($\gtrsim 10$\%), which could be common for sub-$L^*$ $z\gtrsim7$ galaxies with Ly$\alpha$ emission. This galaxy offers a glimpse of the galaxy population that is thought to drive reionization, and it shows that gravitational lensing is an important avenue to probe the sub-$L^*$ galaxy population.