Discovery of an extremely-luminous dust-obscured galaxy observed with SDSS, WISE, JCMT, and SMA

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and detailed characterization of an extremely luminous, dust-obscured galaxy at high redshift, revealing its dominant AGN activity and intense star formation, providing insights into galaxy and black hole co-evolution.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed IR spectral energy distribution and luminosity measurement of a highly luminous dust-obscured galaxy at z=3.703, highlighting its AGN dominance and starburst nature.

Findings

IR luminosity of ~2.2 x 10^14 L_sun, one of the most luminous galaxies

94% of IR emission powered by AGN activity

High stellar mass and star formation rate indicating a starburst galaxy

Abstract

We present the discovery of an extremely-luminous dust-obscured galaxy (DOG) at $z_{\rm spec}$ = 3.703, WISE J101326.25+611220.1. This DOG is selected as a candidate of extremely-luminous infrared (IR) galaxies based on the photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. In order to derive its accurate IR luminosity, we perform follow-up observations at 450 and 850 $\mu$m using the Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array 2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, and at 870 and 1300 $\mu$m using the Submillimeter Array, which enable us to pin down its IR Spectral Energy Distribution (SED). We perform SED fitting using 14 photometric data (0.4 - 1300 $\mu$m) and estimate its IR luminosity, $L_{\rm IR}$ (8-1000 $\mu$m), to be $2.2^{+1.5}_{-1.0}$ $\times 10^{14}$ $L_{\odot}$, making it one of the most luminous IR galaxies in the Universe. The energy contribution from an active galactic nucleus (AGN) to the IR luminosity is $94^{+6}_{-20}$%, which indicates it is an AGN-dominated DOG. On the other hand, its stellar mass ($M_*$) and star formation rate (SFR) are $\log \,(M_\ast/M_{\odot})$ = $11.2^{+0.6}_{-0.2}$ and $\log \,({\rm SFR}/M_{\odot}\,{\rm yr}^{-1}$) = $3.1^{+0.2}_{-0.1}$, respectively, which means that this DOG can be considered as a starburst galaxy in $M_*$--SFR plane. This extremely-luminous DOG shows significant AGN and star forming activity that provides us an important laboratory to probe the maximum phase of the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes.