Description |
We propose to obtain deep, spatially--resolved Herschel PACS and SPIRE photometry and PACs and HIFI spectroscopy of the brightest (in the rest-UV) lensed galaxy yet discovered, RCS0327 at z=1.7038. The goal is to characterize the dust--reprocessed spectral energy distribution (SED) of a typical star--forming galaxy at the epoch when half the Universe.s stars formed. Because RCS0327 extends across 38 arcsec, Herschel will spatially resolve it, and thus will measure spectral energy distributions in multiple spatially--distinct regions. The resulting SED will serve as one of very few templates of low--extinction star forming galaxies beyond the local universe. We will measure the far-infrared luminosity and thus infer a star formation rate, which we will compare to rates measured from the optical/nIR. Finally, we will measure the luminosities of the [O I] 63 and [C II] 158 micron lines, which with the far-IR luminosity constrain the densities, pressures, and radiation fields of the photo-dissociation regions. Such observations are impossible for Herschel in the distant universe without lensing amplification. |