Strong Lyman-α emission in an overdense region at z = 6.8: a very large (R ∼ 3 physical Mpc) ionized bubble in COSMOS?

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2022-03, Vol.511 (4), p.6042-6054
• Main Authors: Endsley, Ryan, Stark, Daniel P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac524

ABSTRACT Our understanding of reionization has advanced considerably over the past decade, with several results now demonstrating that the intergalactic medium transitioned from substantially neutral at z = 7 to largely reionized at z = 6. However, little remains known about the sizes of ionized bubbles at z ≳ 7 as well as the galaxy overdensities which drive their growth. Fortunately, rest-ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopic observations offer a pathway towards characterizing these ionized bubbles thanks to the resonant nature of Lyman-alpha photons. In a previous work, we presented Ly α detections from three closely separated Lyman-break galaxies at z ≃ 6.8, suggesting the presence of a large (R > 1 physical Mpc) ionized bubble in the 1.5 deg2 COSMOS field. Here, we present new deep Ly α spectra of 10 UV-bright ($\mathrm{\mathit{ M}}_{\mathrm{UV}}^{} \le -20.4$) z ≃ 6.6–6.9 galaxies in the surrounding area, enabling us to better characterize this potential ionized bubble. We confidently detect (S/N > 7) Ly α emission at z = 6.701–6.882 in nine of ten observed galaxies, revealing that the large-scale volume spanned by these sources (characteristic radius R = 3.2 physical Mpc) traces a strong galaxy overdensity (N/〈N〉 ≳ 3). Our data additionally confirm that the Ly α emission of UV-bright galaxies in this volume is significantly enhanced, with 40 per cent (4/10) showing strong Ly α emission (equivalent width >25 Å) compared to the 8–9 per cent found on average at z ∼ 7. The median Ly α equivalent width of our observed galaxies is also ≈2 times that typical at z ∼ 7, consistent with expectations if a very large (R ∼ 3 physical Mpc) ionized bubble is allowing the Ly α photons to cosmologically redshift far into the damping wing before encountering H i.