Abstract
We present a spectroscopic redshift measurement of a very bright Lyman break
galaxy at z=7.7302+-0.0006 using Keck/MOSFIRE. The source was pre-selected
photometrically in the EGS field as a robust z~8 candidate with H=25.0 mag
based on optical non-detections and a very red Spitzer/IRAC 3.6-4.5
broad-band color driven by high equivalent width OIII+Hbeta line emission.
The Lyalpha line is reliably detected at >6 sigma and shows an asymmetric
profile as expected for a galaxy embedded in a relatively neutral
inter-galactic medium near the Planck peak of cosmic reionization. The line has
a rest-frame equivalent width of EW0=21+-4 A and is extended with
V_FWHM=376+89-70 km/s. The source is perhaps the brightest and most massive z~8
Lyman break galaxy in the full CANDELS and BoRG/HIPPIES surveys, having
assembled already 10^(9.9+-0.2) M_sol of stars at only 650 Myr after the Big
Bang. The spectroscopic redshift measurement sets a new redshift record for
galaxies. This enables reliable constraints on the stellar mass, star-formation
rate, formation epoch, as well as combined OIII+Hbeta line equivalent widths.
The redshift confirms that the IRAC 4.5 photometry is very likely dominated
by line emission with EW0(OIII+Hbeta)= 720-150+180 A. This detection thus adds
to the evidence that extreme rest-frame optical emission lines are a ubiquitous
feature of early galaxies promising very efficient spectroscopic follow-up in
the future with infrared spectroscopy using JWST and, later, ELTs.
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