A high-redshift IRAS galaxy with huge luminosity-hidden quasar or protogalaxy?
Abstract
DURING a survey intended to measure redshifts for 1,400 galaxies identified with faint sources detected by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite, we found an emission-line galaxy at a redshift of 2.286, and with the enormous far-infrared luminosity of 3 × 10^(14) times that of the Sun (L_☉). The spectrum is very unusual, showing lines of high excitation but with very weak Lyman-α emission. A self-absorbed synchrotron model for the infrared energy distribution cannot be ruled out, but a thermal origin seems more plausible. A radio-quiet quasar embedded in a very dusty galaxy could account for the infrared emission, as might a starburst embedded in 1−10 × 10^9 M_☉ of dust. The latter case demands so much dust that the object would probably be a massive galaxy in the process of formation. In either case, this is a remarkable object, and the presence of a large amount of dust in an object of such high redshift implies the generation of heavy elements at an early cosmological epoch.
Additional Information
© 1991 Nature Publishing Group. Received 12 February; accepted 14 May 1991. We thank P. McCarthy, R. Cutri, P. Eisenhardt, C. Benn and the staff at UKIRT and the WHT for observations of 10214 +4724. T.J.B., AL, R.G.M., S.J.O., A.N.T. and W.S. acknowledge support from SERC. Research at IPAC is carried out under a contract with NASA.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 57537
- DOI
- 10.1038/351719a0
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20150514-141841339
- Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC)
- NASA/IPAC
- Created
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2015-05-14Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)