Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21832406a&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #324.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
The BLISS spectrometer concept for the Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) observatory is an ideal instrument to search for powerful H2 line-emission at redshifts 2 < z < 5: the likely epoch at which massive galaxies are transformed from gas into stars. Unlike some other molecular tracers, the pure rotational transitions of molecular hydrogen at high redshift can only be studied in the far-IR, and direct measurements of H2 is out of reach of ALMA for redshifts less than z = 15. The IR H2 lines have proved to be surprisingly strong in low-redshift shock-driven systems, even in the presence of other metal cooling channels. However, little is yet know about the importance of shock-driven H2-line cooling at high-redshift in more pristine, metal-poor environments. We will show that the proposed SPICA/BLISS combination will provide a unique opportunity to probe into the sensitivity range expected for excited molecular hydrogen from galaxies up to at least z = 5. The study of the dissipation of kinetic energy through turbulence, strongly suspected as the main power-source in the local H2-bright systems, is likely to be of major importance in galaxy building. By analogy with these local H2-bright systems, SPICA/BLISS has the sensitivity to allow us to exploit this powerful shock-diagnostic for studying the most turbulent regions within forming galaxies.
Appleton Philip N.
Armus Lee
Bradford Charles Mathias
Helou George
Murphy Eric
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