Candidate z ~ 2.5 Lyman Continuum Sources in the GOODS Fields. (arXiv:2101.04669v1 [astro-ph.GA])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jones_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Logan H. Jones</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Barger_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Amy J. Barger</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Cowie_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lennox L. Cowie</a>
We use the wealth of deep archival optical spectroscopy on the GOODS-South
field from Keck, the VLT, and other facilities to select candidate
high-redshift Lyman continuum (LyC) leakers in the Hubble Deep UV Legacy Survey
(HDUV) dataset. We select sources at $2.35 < z < 3.05$, where the HST/WFC3
F275W filter probes only the redshifted LyC. We find five moderately
F275W-bright sources (four detected at $gtrsim3sigma$ significance) in this
redshift range. However, two of these show evidence in their optical spectra
for contamination by foreground galaxies along the line-of-sight. We then
perform an F275W error-weighted sum of the fluxes of all 129 galaxies at $2.35
< z < 3.05$ in both the GOODS-N and GOODS-S HDUV areas to estimate the total
ionizing flux. The result is dominated by just five candidate F275W-bright LyC
sources. Lastly, we examine the contributions to the metagalactic ionizing
background, finding that, at the sensitivity of the HDUV F275W data and
allowing for the effects of LyC transmission in the intergalactic medium (IGM),
star-forming galaxies can match the UV flux required to maintain an ionized IGM
at $z sim 2.5$.
We use the wealth of deep archival optical spectroscopy on the GOODS-South
field from Keck, the VLT, and other facilities to select candidate
high-redshift Lyman continuum (LyC) leakers in the Hubble Deep UV Legacy Survey
(HDUV) dataset. We select sources at $2.35 < z < 3.05$, where the HST/WFC3
F275W filter probes only the redshifted LyC. We find five moderately
F275W-bright sources (four detected at $gtrsim3sigma$ significance) in this
redshift range. However, two of these show evidence in their optical spectra
for contamination by foreground galaxies along the line-of-sight. We then
perform an F275W error-weighted sum of the fluxes of all 129 galaxies at $2.35
< z < 3.05$ in both the GOODS-N and GOODS-S HDUV areas to estimate the total
ionizing flux. The result is dominated by just five candidate F275W-bright LyC
sources. Lastly, we examine the contributions to the metagalactic ionizing
background, finding that, at the sensitivity of the HDUV F275W data and
allowing for the effects of LyC transmission in the intergalactic medium (IGM),
star-forming galaxies can match the UV flux required to maintain an ionized IGM
at $z sim 2.5$.
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