A Window On The Earliest Star Formation: Extreme Photoionization Conditions of a High-Ionization, Low-Metallicity Lensed Galaxy at z~2

TL;DR

This study presents detailed observations of a high-redshift, low-metallicity galaxy with extreme star-forming conditions, revealing strong UV emission lines and minimal outflows, serving as a local universe template for early galaxy formation.

Contribution

It provides new spectroscopic data on a highly magnified, low-metallicity galaxy at z~2, highlighting extreme ionization conditions and challenging existing stellar population models.

Findings

Strong nebular UV emission lines detected

Double-peaked LyA emission observed

Minimal outflows along the sightline

Abstract

We report new observations of SL2SJ021737-051329, a lens system consisting of a bright arc at z=1.84435, magnified ~17x by a massive galaxy at z=0.65. SL2SJ0217 is a low-mass (M <10^9 M*), low-metallicity (Z~1/20 Z*) galaxy, with extreme star-forming conditions that produce strong nebular UV emission lines in the absence of any apparent outflows. Here we present several notable features from rest-frame UV Keck/LRIS spectroscopy: (1) Very strong narrow emission lines are measured for CIV 1548,1550, HeII 1640, OIII] 1661,1666, SiIII] 1883,1892, and CIII] 1907,1909. (2) Double-peaked LyA emission is observed with a dominant blue peak and centered near the systemic velocity. (3) The low- and high-ionization absorption features indicate very little or no outflowing gas along the sightline to the lensed galaxy. The relative emission line strengths can be reproduced with a very high-ionization, low-metallicity starburst with binaries, with the exception of He \ii, which indicates an additional ionization source is needed. We rule out large contributions from AGN and shocks to the photoionization budget, suggesting that the emission features requiring the hardest radiation field likely result from extreme stellar populations that are beyond the capabilities of current models. Therefore, SL2S0217 serves as a template for the extreme conditions that are important for reionization and thought to be more common in the early Universe.