A faint M <sub>UV</sub> = −14.5 Lyman-continuum leaker candidate in the epoch of reionization: Unprecedented Ly <i>α</i> properties at z = 5.725
We report the unprecedented Ly α properties of AMORE6, an extremely metal-poor (12 + log(O/H) < 6), low-mass ( M ★ = 4.4 × 10 5 M ⊙ ), and ultracompact (effective radius ∼30 pc) dwarf galaxy at z = 5.7253, which is gravitationally lensed by the cluster A2744. A prominent, narrow, and nearly symmetric Ly α emission line is detected at the systemic redshift (the latter traced by H β , from JWST/NIRCam slitless spectroscopy), with a rest-frame equivalent width of 150 ± 10 Å, a full width at half maximum of 58 ± 1 km s −1 , and a slight asymmetry, resulting in a flux excess of ∼10% in the red wing of the line. The negligible velocity offset from systemic (d v = 4 ± 67 km s −1 , 3 σ uncertainty), together with the sharpness and symmetry of the profile, indicates minimum radiative transfer effects, which implies a neutral hydrogen column density consistent with an optically thin medium that in turn is compatible with a nonzero ionizing photon escape fraction. If indirect spectral diagnostics calibrated at z < 4.5 remain the only viable tools for identifying LyC leakers during reionization, then based on its strongest indicator (Ly α ), AMORE6 stands out as one of the most compelling LyC-leaking candidates yet discovered in the epoch of reionization.
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (FR)
- University of Geneva (CH)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Lyon College (US)
- University of Milan (IT)
- University of Ferrara (IT)
- Tohoku University (JP)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Astronomical Institute (CZ)
- Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna (IT)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (DE)
- Schnörringen Telescope Science Institute (DE)
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (US)
- National Institute for Astrophysics (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2026-03-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202558660
- Primary Topic
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00