Probing Stellar Populations at z ~ 7 - 8

Abstract

In this proceeding we present the results from a study of very high-redshift galaxies with the newly commissioned Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. With the deepest near-infrared data ever taken, we discovered 31 galaxies at 6.3 < z < 8.6. The rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) colors of these galaxies are extremely blue, showing significant (> 4 sigma) evolution from z ~ 3, over only 1 Gyr of cosmic time. While we cannot yet diagnose the exact cause of the bluer colors, it appears a low dust content is the primary factor. The stellar masses of these galaxies are less than comparably selected galaxies at 3 < z < 6, highlighting evolution in the stellar mass of characteristic (L*) galaxies with redshift. Lastly, the measured rest-UV luminosity density of galaxies in our sample seems sufficient to sustain reionization at z ~ 7 when we account for the likely contribution from galaxies below our magnitude limit.

4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the "First Stars and Galaxies: Challenges for the Next Decade" conference, Austin, TX, March 8-11, 2010