CaltechAUTHORS
Published September 2021 | Version Accepted Version + Published
Journal Article Open

The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] survey. Dust mass budget in the early Universe

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of Bologna
  • 2. ROR icon University of Geneva
  • 3. ROR icon Aix-Marseille University
  • 4. ROR icon Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory
  • 5. ROR icon Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
  • 6. ROR icon University of Padua
  • 7. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 8. ROR icon University of Tokyo
  • 9. ROR icon University of Antofagasta
  • 10. ROR icon University of Florida
  • 11. ROR icon European Southern Observatory
  • 12. ROR icon Space Telescope Science Institute
  • 13. ROR icon University of Cambridge
  • 14. ROR icon University of California, Davis
  • 15. ROR icon University College London
  • 16. ROR icon Cornell University
  • 17. ROR icon Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova
  • 18. ROR icon Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa

Abstract

Aims. The dust content of normal galaxies and the dust mass density (DMD) at high-z (z > 4) are unconstrained given the source confusion and the sensitivity limitations of previous observations. The ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [CII] at Early times (ALPINE), which targeted 118 ultra-violet (UV)-selected star-forming galaxies at 4.4 < z < 5.9, provides a new opportunity to tackle this issue for the first time with a statistically robust dataset. Methods. We exploited the rest-frame far-infrared (FIR) fluxes of 23 galaxies individually detected in their continuum emission, as well as stacked continuum images, to measure the dust content of the 118 UV-selected ALPINE galaxies. We focused on the dust scaling relations and, by comparison with predictions from chemical evolution models, we probed the evolutionary stage of UV-selected galaxies at high-z. By using the observed correlation between the UV luminosity and the dust mass, we estimated the DMD of UV-selected galaxies at z ∼ 5, weighting the galaxies by means of the UV luminosity function. The derived DMD is compared with the value we estimated from ten ALPINE galaxies blindly detected in the FIR continuum, at the redshift of the ALPINE targets. Results. Our ALMA survey allows the exploration for the first time of the dust content in normal star-forming galaxies at z > 4 in a statistically robust sample of sources. The comparison of the observed dust scaling relations with chemical evolution models suggests that ALPINE galaxies are not likely progenitors of disc galaxies, but of intermediate- and low-mass proto-spheroids, resulting in present-day bulges of spiral or elliptical galaxies. Interestingly, this conclusion is in line with the independent morphological analysis that shows that the majority (∼70%) of the dust-continuum detected galaxies have a disturbed morphology. The DMD obtained at z ∼ 5 from UV-selected sources is ∼30% of the value obtained from blind FIR-selected sources, showing that the UV selection misses the most dust-rich, UV-obscured galaxies.

Additional Information

© ESO 2021. Article published by EDP Sciences. Received: 29 December 2020; Accepted: 25 May 2021; Published online 15 September 2021. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Olivier Le Fèvre, PI of the ALPINE survey. We are grateful to an anonymous referee for valuable suggestions that improved the paper. F. P. thanks Simone Bianchi for useful discussion on the dust properties. We acknowledge support from grant PRIN MIUR 2017- 20173ML3WW_s. F. P. also acknowledges support from the INAF man-stream program 'Gas-DustPedia: A definitive view of the ISM in the Local Universe'. F.C. also acknowledges support from the INAF main-stream (1.05.01.86.31). D. R. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under grant numbers AST-1614213 and AST-1910107. D. R. also acknowledges support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers. G. C. J and R. M acknowledge ERC advanced grant 695671 'QUENCH' and support by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

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Published - aa40258-20.pdf

Accepted Version - 2105.14789.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
111348
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20211011-155239475

Related works

Describes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.14789 (URL)

Funding

Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (MIUR)
2017-20173ML3WW_s
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)
1.05.01.86.31
NSF
AST-1614213
NSF
AST-1910107
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
European Research Council (ERC)
695671
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

Dates

Created
2021-10-11
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-10-11
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Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)