Interferometric Observations of Powerful CO Emission from Three Submillimeter Galaxies at z=2.39, 2.51, and 3.35
Abstract
We report IRAM millimeter interferometry of three z~2.4-3.4 Submillimeter Common-User Bolometric Array deep field galaxies. Our CO line observations confirm the rest-frame UV/optical redshifts, thus more than doubling the number of confirmed published redshifts of the faint submillimeter population and proving their high-z nature. In all three sources our measurements of the intrinsic gas and dynamical mass are large (1010-1011 Msolar). In at least two cases the data show that the submillimeter sources are part of an interacting system. Together with recent information gathered in the X-ray, optical, and radio bands, our observations support the interpretation that the submillimeter population, at least the radio-detected ones, consists of gas-rich (gas-to-dynamical mass ratio ~0.5) and massive interacting starburst/active galactic nucleus systems.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- November 2003
- DOI:
- 10.1086/379968
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0307310
- Bibcode:
- 2003ApJ...597L.113N
- Keywords:
-
- Cosmology: Observations;
- Galaxies: Evolution;
- Galaxies: Formation;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- only minor modifications to comply with the ApJL edition rules