First Light II: Emission Line Extinction, Population III Stars, and X-ray Binaries

TL;DR

This study models emission lines and their extinction in metal-free stellar populations and X-ray binaries at high redshift, assessing their observability with future telescopes.

Contribution

It extends previous models by including detailed line production and extinction in dusty, metal-enriched media at z=15, incorporating high-energy photons across a broad spectrum.

Findings

Population III galaxy mergers are the best candidates for direct observation.

Single Population III galaxies are too faint for photometric detection at z=15.

Lyα emission may be detectable by JWST through specific color changes.

Abstract

We produce synthetic spectra and observations for metal-free stellar populations and high mass X-ray binaries in the Renaissance Simulations at a redshift of 15. We extend our methodology from the first paper in the series by modelling the production and extinction of emission lines throughout a dusty and metal-enriched interstellar and circum-galactic media extracted from the simulation, using a Monte Carlo calculation. To capture the impact of high-energy photons, we include all frequencies from hard X-ray to far infrared with enough frequency resolution to discern line emission and absorption profiles. The most common lines in our sample in order of their rate of occurrence are Ly$\alpha$, the C IV $\lambda\lambda1548,1551$ doublet, H-$\alpha$, and the Ca II $\lambda\lambda\lambda8498,8542,8662$ triplet. The best scenario for a direct observation of a metal-free stellar population is a merger between two Population III galaxies. In mergers between metal-enriched and metal-free stellar populations, some characteristics may be inferred indirectly. Single Population III galaxies are too dim to be observed photometrically at $z = 15$. Ly$\alpha$ emission is discernible by $JWST$ as an increase in $\rm{J_{200w} - J_{277w}}$ colour off the intrinsic stellar tracks. Observations of metal-free stars will be difficult, though not impossible, with the next generation of space telescopes.