Precise Photometric Redshifts For Two Bright z>8 Galaxies
Abstract
Deep field observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed several hundred z>8 galaxy candidates in the universe's first billion years, but few if any are bright enough (H<24.5 AB) for detailed, high-S/N spectroscopic follow-up study with the James Webb Space Telescope. With the JWST launch fast-approaching it is essential that we make every attempt to identify as many bright high-z galaxies as possible to feed early science programs. With this is mind, we are proposing for WFC3/IR imaging observations of two exceptionally bright (H~24 AB) candidate z~8-10 dropout galaxies that were only recently identified in September 2016. Both targets are detected in H-band imaging and drop out strongly in blue bands. A preliminary Bayesian photo-z analysis of existing data reveals a a high probability that both sources are z>8, but cannot provide precise photometric redshift constraints. We propose for HST/WFC3 + ACS imaging to obtain the multi-band imaging necessary to recover precise photometric redshifts for these two dropout galaxies.
- Publication:
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HST Proposal
- Pub Date:
- November 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016hst..prop14896B