The Redshift and Nature of AzTEC/COSMOS 1: A Starburst Galaxy at z = 4.6

Based on broadband/narrowband photometry and Keck DEIMOS spectroscopy, we report a redshift of z = 4.64^+0.06 _-0.08 for AzTEC/COSMOS 1, the brightest submillimeter galaxy (SMG) in the AzTEC/COSMOS field. In addition to the COSMOS-survey X-ray to radio data, we report observations of the source with Herschel/PACS (100, 160 μm), CSO/SHARC II (350 μm), and CARMA and PdBI (3 mm). We do not detect CO(5 → 4) line emission in the covered redshift ranges, 4.56-4.76 (PdBI/CARMA) and 4.94-5.02 (CARMA). If the line is within this bandwidth, this sets 3σ upper limits on the gas mass to lsim8 × 10⁹ M _sun and lsim5 × 10¹⁰ M _sun, respectively (assuming similar conditions as observed in z ~ 2 SMGs). This could be explained by a low CO-excitation in the source. Our analysis of the UV-IR spectral energy distribution of AzTEC 1 shows that it is an extremely young (lsim50 Myr), massive (M _* ~ 10¹¹ M _sun), but compact (lsim2 kpc) galaxy, forming stars at a rate of ~1300 M _sun yr^-1. Our results imply that AzTEC 1 is forming stars in a "gravitationally bound" regime in which gravity prohibits the formation of a superwind, leading to matter accumulation within the galaxy and further generations of star formation.

Based on observations with the W. M. Keck Observatory, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, the Subaru Telescope, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the NASA Spitzer Telescope, the Caltech Sub-mm Observatory, the Smithsonian Millimeter Array, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.