Other
Scientific paper
Jul 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009hst..prop12224r&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #12224. Cycle 18
Other
Scientific paper
Selecting galaxies by their strong Lyman-alpha emission provides a powerful means of probing the reionization epoch and the faint/low-mass galaxies that dominate star formation at high redshift. Yet, our understanding of high-redshift Lyman-alpha emitters {LAEs} has lagged behind that of other well-studied populations {e.g., Lyman break galaxies} due to their continuum faintness and the shifting of age/mass-sensitive features into the near-IR where the high terrestrial background inhibits deep observations. All existing studies of LAEs at z>2 have used stacked optical and/or Spitzer infrared data to discern their median properties, but the actual distributions of ages, reddenings, and stellar masses for these populations are poorly characterized. To fill this glaring gap in the observations and advance our understanding of this important population, we propose WFC3/IR+F160W imaging of fields where we have conducted a survey of low redshift {z 1.9} Lyman-alpha emitters {LAEs}, in order to measure their ages and stellar masses at an epoch where such observations directly probe the age-sensitive Balmer/4000 AA breaks. The targeted sample will include 45-50 spectroscopically confirmed LAEs at z=1.7-2.1 and roughly twice as many candidates, making it the largest sample of homogeneously selected LAEs with individual measurements of the ages, masses, and dust extinction. With these data we will {1} carefully take into account the age-dependence of the extinction curve to make robust comparisons between LAEs and continuum-selected galaxies at the same redshifts; {2} combine clustering and stellar mass measurements to infer the duty cycles of LAEs and determine if they are triggered in the presence of large-scale structures; and {3} quantify the importance of the LAE phase at different galaxy luminosity and mass scales, over a large dynamic range in these properties. An economical investment of just 12 orbits will allow us to accomplish these goals, and remains the only hope of efficiently studying such low luminosity high-redshift galaxies in the near-IR prior to the JWST-era.;
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