A High-Resolution Hubble Space Telescope Study of Apparent Lyman Continuum Leakers at z~3

Abstract

We present U₃₃₆V₆₀₆J₁₂₅H₁₆₀ follow-up Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of 16 z ∼ 3 candidate Lyman continuum (LyC) emitters in the HS1549+1919 field. With these data, we obtain high spatial-resolution photometric redshifts of all sub-arcsecond components of the LyC candidates in order to eliminate foreground contamination and identify robust candidates for leaking LyC emission. Of the 16 candidates, we find one object with a robust LyC detection that is not due to foreground contamination. This object (MD5) resolves into two components; we refer to the LyC-emitting component as MD5b. MD5b has an observed 1500 Å to 900 Å flux-density ratio of {({F}_{UV}/{F}_{LyC})}_{obs}=4.0+/- 2.0, compatible with predictions from stellar population synthesis models. Assuming minimal IGM absorption, this ratio corresponds to a relative (absolute) escape fraction of {f}_{esc,{rel}}^{MD5{{b}}} = 75%-100% ({f}_{esc,{abs}}^{MD5{{b}}} = 14%-19%). The stellar population fit to MD5b indicates an age of ≲50 Myr, which is in the youngest 10% of the HST sample and the youngest third of typical z ∼ 3 Lyman break galaxies, and may be a contributing factor to its LyC detection. We obtain a revised, contamination-free estimate for the comoving specific ionizing emissivity at z = 2.85, indicating (with large uncertainties) that star-forming galaxies provide roughly the same contribution as QSOs to the ionizing background at this redshift. Our results show that foreground contamination prevents ground-based LyC studies from obtaining a full understanding of LyC emission from z ∼ 3 star-forming galaxies. Future progress in direct LyC searches is contingent upon the elimination of foreground contaminants through high spatial-resolution observations, and upon acquisition of sufficiently deep LyC imaging to probe ionizing radiation in high-redshift galaxies.