Breathless BEARS: [O  <scp>iii</scp> ] 88 µm emission of dusty star-forming galaxies at <i>z</i> = 3−4

ABSTRACT We present [O iii] 88 $\mu {\rm m}$ observations towards four Herschel-selected dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs; $\log _{10} \mu L_{\rm IR} / L_{\odot } = 13.5 \!-\! 14$ at $z = 2.9\!-\!4$) using the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) in Bands 9 and 10. We detect [O iii] emission in all four targets at $\gt\, 3 \sigma$, finding line luminosity ratios ($L_{\rm [O_{III}]} / L_{\rm IR} = 10^{-4.2}$ to $10^{-3}$) similar to local spiral galaxies, and an order of magnitude lower when compared with local dwarf galaxies as well as high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies. Using the short-wavelength capabilities of the ACA, these observations bridge the populations of galaxies with [O iii] emission at low redshift from space missions and at high redshift from ground-based studies. The difference in [O iii] emission between these DSFGs and other high-redshift galaxies reflects their more evolved stellar populations (&amp;gt;10 Myr), larger dust reservoirs ($M_{\rm dust} \sim 10^{9 - 11}$ M$_{\rm \odot }$), metal-rich interstellar medium ($Z \sim 0.5\!-\!2$ Z$_{\odot }$), and likely weaker ionization radiation fields. Ancillary [C ii] emission on two targets provide $L_\mathrm{[O\, {\small III}]}/L_\mathrm{[C\, {\small II}]}$ ratios at 0.3–0.9, suggesting that ionized gas represents a smaller fraction of the total gas reservoir in DSFGs, consistent with theoretical models of DSFGs as transitional systems between gas-rich, turbulent disks and more evolved, gas-poor galaxies. Expanding samples of DSFGs with [O iii] emission will be key to place this heterogeneous, poorly understood galactic phase in its astrophysical context.

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Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2026-01-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag106
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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article
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article

Breathless BEARS: [O  iii ] 88 µm emission of dusty star-forming galaxies at z = 3−4

Chentao Yang, P. Temi, M. D. Lehnert, G. J. Bendo et al.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
article

Breathless BEARS: [O  iii ] 88 µm emission of dusty star-forming galaxies at z = 3−4

Chentao Yang, P. Temi, M. D. Lehnert, G. J. Bendo, Masato Hagimoto, Prachi Prajapati, L. Bonavera, Stephen Serjeant, J. González-Nuevo, H S B Algera, Stefano Berta, Gianfranco De Zotti, Pierre Cox, Paul van der Werf, T J L C Bakx, Kevin Harrington
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present [O iii] 88 $\mu {\rm m}$ observations towards four Herschel-selected dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs; $\log _{10} \mu L_{\rm IR} / L_{\odot } = 13.5 \!-\! 14$ at $z = 2.9\!-\!4$) using the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) in Bands 9 and 10. We detect [O iii] emission in all four targets at $\gt\, 3 \sigma$, finding line luminosity ratios ($L_{\rm [O_{III}]} / L_{\rm IR} = 10^{-4.2}$ to $10^{-3}$) similar to local spiral galaxies, and an order of magnitude lower when compared with local dwarf galaxies as well as high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies. Using the short-wavelength capabilities of the ACA, these observations bridge the populations of galaxies with [O iii] emission at low redshift from space missions and at high redshift from ground-based studies. The difference in [O iii] emission between these DSFGs and other high-redshift galaxies reflects their more evolved stellar populations (&amp;gt;10 Myr), larger dust reservoirs ($M_{\rm dust} \sim 10^{9 - 11}$ M$_{\rm \odot }$), metal-rich interstellar medium ($Z \sim 0.5\!-\!2$ Z$_{\odot }$), and likely weaker ionization radiation fields. Ancillary [C ii] emission on two targets provide $L_\mathrm{[O\, {\small III}]}/L_\mathrm{[C\, {\small II}]}$ ratios at 0.3–0.9, suggesting that ionized gas represents a smaller fraction of the total gas reservoir in DSFGs, consistent with theoretical models of DSFGs as transitional systems between gas-rich, turbulent disks and more evolved, gas-poor galaxies. Expanding samples of DSFGs with [O iii] emission will be key to place this heterogeneous, poorly understood galactic phase in its astrophysical context.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 546(3)
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (FR), Leiden University (NL), Ames Research Center (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (TW), Universidad de Oviedo (ES), University of Cologne (DE), The Open University (GB), Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array (CL), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (FR), University of Manchester (GB), Sorbonne Université (FR), Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (FR), Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (FR), European Southern Observatory (CL), Astronomical Observatory (RS), Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (DE), Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (IT), Nagoya University (JP), Chalmers University of Technology (SE), Universidad Diego Portales (CL)
International Max Planck Research School for Environmental, Cellular and Molecular Microbiology, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Academia Sinica, Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, International Max Planck Research School for Advanced Methods in Process and Systems Engineering, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Openalex Percentile: Top 85%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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