Keck Spectroscopy and NICMOS Photometry of a Redshift z = 5.60 Galaxy

Abstract

We present Keck Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer spectroscopy along with Near-Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrometer (NICMOS) F110W (~J) and F160W (~H) images of the galaxy HDF 4-473.0 in the Hubble Deep Field (HDF), with a detection of an emission line consistent with Lyα at a redshift of z=5.60. Attention to this object as a high-redshift galaxy was first drawn by Lanzetta, Yahil, & Fernandez-Soto and appeared in their initial list of galaxies with redshifts estimated from the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) HDF photometry. It was selected by us for spectroscopic observation, along with others in the HDF, on the basis of the NICMOS F110W and F160W and WFPC2 photometry. For H_0=65 km s^(-1) Mpc^(-1) and q_0=0.125, the use of simple evolutionary models along with the F814W (~I), F110W, and F160W magnitudes allow us to estimate the star formation rate (~13 M_☉ yr^(-1)). The colors suggest a reddening of E(B-V)~0.06. The measured flux in the Lyα line is approximately 1.0×10^(−17) ergs cm^(-2) s^(-1), and the rest-frame equivalent width, correcting for the absorption caused by intervening H I, is ~90 Å. The galaxy is compact and regular, but resolved, with an observed FWHM of ~0."44. Simple evolutionary models can accurately reproduce the colors, and these models predict the Lyα flux to within a factor of 2. Using this object as a template shifted to higher redshifts, we calculate the magnitudes through the F814W and two NICMOS passbands for galaxies at redshifts 6<z<10.

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