Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers Dominated
Understanding the ionizing photon escape from galaxies is essential for studying cosmic reionization. With a sample of 23 Lyman continuum (LyC) leakers (among which eight are high-confidence leakers) at 3 < z < 4.5 in the GOODS-S field, we investigate their morphologies using high-resolution...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adc125 |
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| author | Shuairu Zhu Zhen-Ya Zheng Fang-Ting Yuan Chunyan Jiang Ruqiu Lin |
| author_facet | Shuairu Zhu Zhen-Ya Zheng Fang-Ting Yuan Chunyan Jiang Ruqiu Lin |
| author_sort | Shuairu Zhu |
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| description | Understanding the ionizing photon escape from galaxies is essential for studying cosmic reionization. With a sample of 23 Lyman continuum (LyC) leakers (among which eight are high-confidence leakers) at 3 < z < 4.5 in the GOODS-S field, we investigate their morphologies using high-resolution data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. We find that 20 of the 23 LyC leakers (seven out of eight high-confidence leakers) show merging signatures via visual inspection, while the remaining three are starbursts. The merger fraction of our sample is significantly higher than that of normal galaxies at similar or higher redshifts. Even when using the nonparametric method, which may miss some mergers in a sample, the merger fraction remains high, especially for the high-confidence leakers. Based on our previous finding that LyC leakers are not necessarily starbursts while some are in the star formation main sequence, we further find that those in the main sequence show merger signatures. Our results suggest that LyC leakers are either starbursts or mergers, both of which can facilitate the LyC photon escape, in addition to generating more LyC photons. Furthermore, we show that high- z LyC leakers are statistically more extended than those selected at low redshift, which exhibit a higher merger fraction as size increases. This is likely due to the observational bias that the spatial resolution limits the detection of high- z compact galaxies, while low redshift LyC leakers are more selected as compact starbursts. |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-f76d70cf89ad475c995950b5a41f3a542025-08-20T01:54:53ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052025-01-019822L5810.3847/2041-8213/adc125Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers DominatedShuairu Zhu0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2528-0761Zhen-Ya Zheng1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9634-2923Fang-Ting Yuan2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6763-5869Chunyan Jiang3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0003-8557Ruqiu Lin4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3987-0858Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China ; zhengzy@shao.ac.cn; School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China ; zhengzy@shao.ac.cnShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China ; zhengzy@shao.ac.cnShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China ; zhengzy@shao.ac.cnShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China ; zhengzy@shao.ac.cn; School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of ChinaUnderstanding the ionizing photon escape from galaxies is essential for studying cosmic reionization. With a sample of 23 Lyman continuum (LyC) leakers (among which eight are high-confidence leakers) at 3 < z < 4.5 in the GOODS-S field, we investigate their morphologies using high-resolution data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. We find that 20 of the 23 LyC leakers (seven out of eight high-confidence leakers) show merging signatures via visual inspection, while the remaining three are starbursts. The merger fraction of our sample is significantly higher than that of normal galaxies at similar or higher redshifts. Even when using the nonparametric method, which may miss some mergers in a sample, the merger fraction remains high, especially for the high-confidence leakers. Based on our previous finding that LyC leakers are not necessarily starbursts while some are in the star formation main sequence, we further find that those in the main sequence show merger signatures. Our results suggest that LyC leakers are either starbursts or mergers, both of which can facilitate the LyC photon escape, in addition to generating more LyC photons. Furthermore, we show that high- z LyC leakers are statistically more extended than those selected at low redshift, which exhibit a higher merger fraction as size increases. This is likely due to the observational bias that the spatial resolution limits the detection of high- z compact galaxies, while low redshift LyC leakers are more selected as compact starbursts.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adc125High-redshift galaxiesReionization |
| spellingShingle | Shuairu Zhu Zhen-Ya Zheng Fang-Ting Yuan Chunyan Jiang Ruqiu Lin Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers Dominated The Astrophysical Journal Letters High-redshift galaxies Reionization |
| title | Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers Dominated |
| title_full | Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers Dominated |
| title_fullStr | Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers Dominated |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers Dominated |
| title_short | Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers Dominated |
| title_sort | lyman continuum leakers at z 3 in the goods s field mergers dominated |
| topic | High-redshift galaxies Reionization |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adc125 |
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