Luminous obscured galaxies likely dominate the total bolometric emission from star-formation at the early epochs of z~2-3, and are most efficiently identified through their (sub)millimetre emission and are so-called submillimetre galaxies (SMGs). The intense starbursts in SMGs are fuelled by their large observed H2 gas reservoirs, as traced by CO interferometric surveys, although the details of how their immense luminosities (L_fir>5x10^12 Lsun) and star-formation rates (~100-1000 Msun/yr) are powered are not well understood: Are SMGs just scaled up ULIRGs with star-formation occurring in a highly-obscured nuclear region (with perhaps some contribution from an AGN)? Or does the star-formation occur in a more extended, cooler component, such as in normal star-forming galaxies. One route to tackling this question is to construct a data set of the brightest fine-structure ISM emission lines (CII and OI) in a well-defined sample of SMGs, which with ancillary CO data, will allow us to study the physics of the ISM and its interplay with the heating source. Similar benchmark data sets are being compiled by several Herschel programs for local LIRGs and ULIRGs, which will act as a link to help interpret the high-redshift SMG observations. Here we propose a timely and systematic study with the PACS spectrometer of OI63um in a flux-limited sample of SMGs with secure spectroscopic redshifts between 0.7
Publication
Strong C+ Emission in Galaxies at z ~ 1-2: Evidence for Cold Flow Accretion Powered Star Formation in the Early Universe | Brisbin Drew et al. | The Astrophysical Journal Volume 799 Issue 1 article id. 13 18 pp. (2015). | 799 | 10.1088/0004-637X/799/1/13 | 2015ApJ...799...13B | http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015ApJ...799...13B
Herschel-PACS observations of O I63 mm towards submillimetre galaxies at z ~ 1 | Coppin K. E. K. et al. | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Volume 427 Issue 1 pp. 520-532. | 427 | 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21977.x | 2012MNRAS.427..520C | http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012MNRAS.427..520C
The Interstellar Medium in High-redshift Submillimeter Galaxies as Probed by Infrared Spectroscopy* | Wardlow Julie L. et al. | The Astrophysical Journal Volume 837 Issue 1 article id. 12 20 pp. (2017). | 837 | 10.3847/1538-4357/837/1/12 | 2017ApJ...837...12W | http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017ApJ...837...12W
Early Science with the Large Millimeter Telescope: CO and C II Emission in the z = 4.3 AzTEC J095942.9+022938 (COSMOS AzTEC-1) | Yun Min S. et al. | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Volume 454 Issue 4 p.3485-3499 | 454 | 10.1093/mnras/stv1963 | 2015MNRAS.454.3485Y | http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.454.3485Y
Instrument
PACS_PacsRangeSpec_point
Temporal Coverage
2012-02-20T12:20:50Z/2012-02-28T13:56:22Z
Version
SPG v14.2.0
Mission Description
Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009! It is the fourth cornerstone mission in the ESA science programme. With a 3.5 m Cassegrain telescope it is the largest space telescope ever launched. It is performing photometry and spectroscopy in approximately the 55-671 µm range, bridging the gap between earlier infrared space missions and groundbased facilities.
