Ultra-bright CO and [{\rm{C}}\,{\rm{I}}] Emission in a Lensed z = 2.04 Submillimeter Galaxy with Extreme Molecular Gas Properties

Dannerbauer, H.; Harrington, K.; Díaz-Sánchez, A.; Iglesias-Groth, S.; Rebolo, R.; Genova-Santos, R. T.; Krips, M.
Bibliographical reference

The Astronomical Journal, Volume 158, Issue 1, article id. 34, 11 pp. (2019).

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7
2019
Number of authors
7
IAC number of authors
4
Citations
30
Refereed citations
27
Description
We report the very bright detection of cold molecular gas with the IRAM NOEMA interferometer of the strongly lensed source WISE J132934.18+224327.3 at z = 2.04, the so-called Cosmic Eyebrow. This source has a similar spectral energy distribution from optical-mid/IR to submillimeter/radio but significantly higher fluxes than the well-known lensed SMG SMMJ 2135, the Cosmic Eyelash at z = 2.3. The interferometric observations unambiguously identify the location of the molecular line emission in two components, component CO32-A with {I}CO(3-2)}=52.2+/- 0.9 Jy km s‑1 and component CO32-B with {I}CO(3-2)}=15.7+/- 0.7 Jy km s‑1. Thus, our NOEMA observations of the CO(3‑2) transition confirm the SMG-nature of WISE J132934.18+224327.3, resulting in the brightest CO(3‑2) detection ever of an SMG. In addition, we present follow-up observations of the brighter component with the Green Bank Telescope (CO(1‑0) transition) and IRAM 30 m telescope (CO(4‑3) and [C I](1‑0) transitions). The star formation efficiency of ∼100 L ⊙/(K km s‑1 pc2) is at the overlap region between merger-triggered and disk-like star formation activity and the lowest seen for lensed dusty star-forming galaxies. The determined gas depletion time ∼60 Myr, intrinsic infrared star formation SFRIR ≈ 2000 M ⊙ yr‑1, and gas fraction M mol/M * = 0.44 indicate a starburst/merger-triggered star formation. The obtained data of the cold ISM—from CO(1‑0) and dust continuum—indicates a gas mass μM mol ∼ 15 × 1011 M ⊙ for component CO32-A. Its unseen brightness offers us the opportunity to establish the Cosmic Eyebrow as a new reference source at z = 2 for galaxy evolution.
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