The ALMA REBELS survey: [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ line scans of UV-bright $z \gtrsim 7.6$ galaxies
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2025
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| author | van Leeuwen, I. F. Bouwens, R. J. Hodge, J. A. van der Werf, P. P. Algera, H. S. B. Schouws, S. Aravena, M. Bowler, R. A. A. Dayal, P. Ferrara, A. Fisher, R. Fudamoto, Y. Gulis, C. Herard-Demanche, T. Inami, H. de Looze, I. Pallottini, A. Smit, R. Sommovigo, L. Stefanon, M. |
| author_facet | van Leeuwen, I. F. Bouwens, R. J. Hodge, J. A. van der Werf, P. P. Algera, H. S. B. Schouws, S. Aravena, M. Bowler, R. A. A. Dayal, P. Ferrara, A. Fisher, R. Fudamoto, Y. Gulis, C. Herard-Demanche, T. Inami, H. de Looze, I. Pallottini, A. Smit, R. Sommovigo, L. Stefanon, M. |
| contents | We present the [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ spectral scan results from the ALMA Large Program REBELS (Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey). The generally high luminosity of [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ and ALMA's Band 7 efficiency motivated its use for line scans of REBELS targets at $z>8$. Spectral scans of four sources covered 326.4-373.0 GHz ($z=8.10$-9.39), reaching [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ luminosities of $\mathrm{\sim7.6\times10^8\ L_{\odot}}$ ($5σ$) for a FWHM of 400 km s$^{-1}$. No credible lines are detected for the four targets. For REBELS-04, the non-detection is unexpected given the $\geq92\%$ coverage of the redshift likelihood distribution and its estimated SFR of 40 $\text{M}_{\odot}\ \text{yr}^{-1}$. Possible explanations for the faint [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ emission (assuming a FWHM of 100 km s$^{-1}$) include high ISM densities ($>n_{\text{crit}} \approx 510\ \text{cm}^{-3}$) and low ionization parameters ($\mathrm{log_{10}\ U_{ion}\lesssim -2.5}$). For REBELS-37, a subsequent detection of [CII]$_{158μ\text{m}}$ ($z=7.643$) confirmed it lay outside our scan range. For REBELS-11 and REBELS-13, it remains unclear if the non-detection is due to the depth of the line scan or redshift coverage. REBELS-04 and REBELS-37 show significant ($\geq3.8σ$) dust continuum emission in Band 7. If the photometric redshift of REBELS-04 is accurate, i.e., $z_{\mathrm{phot}}=8.57^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$ or $z_{\mathrm{phot}}=8.43^{+0.10}_{-0.10}$ accounting for additional neutral hydrogen in the circumgalactic medium, REBELS-04 would constitute the most distant dust-detected galaxy identified with ALMA to date. Additional Band 6 dust observations of REBELS-37 constrain the shape of the far-IR SED, ruling out cold dust temperatures ($\lesssim28$ K) at $3σ$. Further insight into these galaxies will require spectroscopic redshifts and deeper multi-band dust observations. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_02390 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The ALMA REBELS survey: [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ line scans of UV-bright $z \gtrsim 7.6$ galaxies van Leeuwen, I. F. Bouwens, R. J. Hodge, J. A. van der Werf, P. P. Algera, H. S. B. Schouws, S. Aravena, M. Bowler, R. A. A. Dayal, P. Ferrara, A. Fisher, R. Fudamoto, Y. Gulis, C. Herard-Demanche, T. Inami, H. de Looze, I. Pallottini, A. Smit, R. Sommovigo, L. Stefanon, M. Astrophysics of Galaxies We present the [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ spectral scan results from the ALMA Large Program REBELS (Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey). The generally high luminosity of [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ and ALMA's Band 7 efficiency motivated its use for line scans of REBELS targets at $z>8$. Spectral scans of four sources covered 326.4-373.0 GHz ($z=8.10$-9.39), reaching [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ luminosities of $\mathrm{\sim7.6\times10^8\ L_{\odot}}$ ($5σ$) for a FWHM of 400 km s$^{-1}$. No credible lines are detected for the four targets. For REBELS-04, the non-detection is unexpected given the $\geq92\%$ coverage of the redshift likelihood distribution and its estimated SFR of 40 $\text{M}_{\odot}\ \text{yr}^{-1}$. Possible explanations for the faint [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ emission (assuming a FWHM of 100 km s$^{-1}$) include high ISM densities ($>n_{\text{crit}} \approx 510\ \text{cm}^{-3}$) and low ionization parameters ($\mathrm{log_{10}\ U_{ion}\lesssim -2.5}$). For REBELS-37, a subsequent detection of [CII]$_{158μ\text{m}}$ ($z=7.643$) confirmed it lay outside our scan range. For REBELS-11 and REBELS-13, it remains unclear if the non-detection is due to the depth of the line scan or redshift coverage. REBELS-04 and REBELS-37 show significant ($\geq3.8σ$) dust continuum emission in Band 7. If the photometric redshift of REBELS-04 is accurate, i.e., $z_{\mathrm{phot}}=8.57^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$ or $z_{\mathrm{phot}}=8.43^{+0.10}_{-0.10}$ accounting for additional neutral hydrogen in the circumgalactic medium, REBELS-04 would constitute the most distant dust-detected galaxy identified with ALMA to date. Additional Band 6 dust observations of REBELS-37 constrain the shape of the far-IR SED, ruling out cold dust temperatures ($\lesssim28$ K) at $3σ$. Further insight into these galaxies will require spectroscopic redshifts and deeper multi-band dust observations. |
| title | The ALMA REBELS survey: [OIII]$_{88μ\text{m}}$ line scans of UV-bright $z \gtrsim 7.6$ galaxies |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.02390 |