Deeper than DEEP: A Spectroscopic Survey of $z>3$ Lyman-$\alpha$ Emitters in the Extended Groth Strip

TL;DR

This spectroscopic survey of high-redshift Ly$ extalpha$ emitters in the Extended Groth Strip identified 126 emitters at redshifts 2.8 to 6.5, providing valuable data for understanding galaxy evolution during the Epoch of Reionization.

Contribution

The survey provides the largest spectroscopic catalog of $z>3$ Ly$ extalpha$ emitters in the EGS, with detailed spectra and redshifts to support JWST and other future observations.

Findings

126 Ly$ extalpha$ emitters identified at $2.8 < z < 6.5$

Redshift distribution peaks around $z=4.3$

Provides comprehensive spectral and redshift catalog for future studies

Abstract

We present a spectroscopic survey of Ly$\alpha$ emitters in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS) field, targeting the regime near the Epoch of Reionization. Using Keck/DEIMOS, we observed 947 high-$z$ candidates with photometric redshifts from 3 $< z_\text{phot} <$ 7 and down to an $H$-band (HST/WFC3 F160W) magnitude limit of < 27.5. Observations were taken over the course of 8 nights, with integration times ranging from 4 to 7.8 hours. Our survey secured 137 unique redshifts, 126 of which are Ly$\alpha$ emitters at 2.8 $< z <$ 6.5 with a mean redshift of $\overline{z} = 4.3$. We provide a comprehensive redshift catalog for our targets, as well as the reduced one- and two- dimensional spectra for each object. These observations will provide an important auxiliary dataset for the JWST Directors Discretionary Early Release Science (DD-ERS) program the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS), which recently completed near- and mid-IR imaging and spectroscopy of galaxies in the EGS field.