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K. Coppin, M. Halpern, C. Borys (UBC), F. Iwamuro, T. Maihara (Kyoto University), K. Motohara (JNAO), G. Marsden, D. Scott (UBC), T. Totani (Princeton University)
We have measured the flux at 850 microns of four hyper extremely red objets (HEROs) found in the Subaru Deep Field (SDF). These objects have J-K > 4 and are too red to be normal passively evolving elliptical galaxies. Suggested explanations for the very red spectra include the possibility that they might be extraordinarily high redshift ``Lyman-dropout'' galaxies at z~8 or that they might be very dusty ellipticals which formed at redshifts z~ 4-7 and are still undergoing rapid star formation when seen at redshift z~3.
Knowing the submillimetre flux of these HEROs distinguishes between the competing models and provides very valuable information for understanding when galaxies first formed and how long their initial starbursts lasted: one of the key goals of modern physical cosmology.
We have measured a mean flux of the four HEROs of 2.0 (± 1.1) mJy at 850 microns using the SCUBA detector on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). If these objects have a spectral energy distribution like Arp220, an archetypal ULIRG and starburst galaxy, these results imply that they are at z < 2, but have an extraordinary amount of dust. A quantitative comparison of the models will be presented.
This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is operated on behalf of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, and the National Research Council of Canada.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.