Euclid: Discovery of bright z ≃ 7 Lyman-break galaxies in UltraVISTA and Euclid COSMOS

Varadaraj, R. G.; Bowler, R. A. A.; Jarvis, M. J.; Weaver, J. R.; Bañados, E.; Holloway, P.; Caputi, K. I.; Wilkins, S. M.; Yang, D.; Milvang-Jensen, B.; Gabarra, L.; Oesch, P. A.; Amara, A.; Andreon, S.; Auricchio, N.; Baccigalupi, C.; Baldi, M.; Bardelli, S.; Biviano, A.; Branchini, E.; Brescia, M.; Camera, S.; Cañas-Herrera, G.; Capobianco, V.; Carbone, C.; Carretero, J.; Castellano, M.; Castignani, G.; Cavuoti, S.; Chambers, K. C.; Cimatti, A.; Colodro-Conde, C.; Congedo, G.; Conselice, C. J.; Conversi, L.; Copin, Y.; Courbin, F.; Courtois, H. M.; Cropper, M.; Da Silva, A.; Degaudenzi, H.; De Lucia, G.; Dole, H.; Dubath, F.; Duncan, C. A. J.; Dupac, X.; Dusini, S.; Escoffier, S.; Farina, M.; Farinelli, R.; Faustini, F.; Ferriol, S.; Finelli, F.; Fosalba, P.; Fourmanoit, N.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Fumana, M.; Galeotta, S.; George, K.; Gillis, B.; Giocoli, C.; Gracia-Carpio, J.; Grazian, A.; Grupp, F.; Guzzo, L.; Haugan, S. V. H.; Hoar, J.; Hoekstra, H.; Holmes, W.; Hook, I. M.; Hormuth, F.; Hornstrup, A.; Jahnke, K.; Jhabvala, M.; Joachimi, B.; Keihänen, E.; Kermiche, S.; Kiessling, A.; Kilbinger, M.; Kubik, B.; Kümmel, M.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Le Brun, A. M. C.; Ligori, S.; Lilje, P. B.; Lindholm, V.; Lloro, I.; Mainetti, G.; Maino, D.; Maiorano, E.; Mansutti, O.; Marggraf, O.; Martinelli, M.; Martinet, N.; Marulli, F.; Massey, R. J.; Medinaceli, E.; Mei, S. et al.
Bibliographical reference

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Advertised on:
3
2026
Number of authors
166
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
1
Refereed citations
0
Description
We present a search for z ≃ 7 Lyman-break galaxies using the 1.72 deg2 near-infrared (NIR) UltraVISTA survey in the COSMOS field, reaching 5σ depths in Y of 26.2. We incorporated deep Euclid optical and Euclid + Spitzer NIR imaging for a full spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting analysis. We found 289 candidate galaxies at 6.5 ≤ z ≤ 7.5 covering −22.6 ≤ MUV ≤ −20.2, faint enough to overlap with Hubble Space Telescope studies. We conducted a separate selection by including complementary Euclid performance verification imaging (reaching 5σ depths of 26.3), yielding 140 galaxies in 0.65 deg2, with 38 sources unique to this sample. We computed the rest-frame UV luminosity function (UV LF) from our samples, extending below the knee ( M∗ = 21.14+0.28−0.25 M ∗ = − 21 . 14 − 0.25 + 0.28 ). We find that the shape of the UV LF is consistent with both a Schechter function and a double power law (DPL) at the magnitudes probed by this sample, with a DPL preferred at MUV < −22.5 when bright-end results are included. The UltraVISTA + Euclid sample provides a clean measurement of the LF due to the overlapping NIR filters identifying molecular absorption features in the SEDs of ultra-cool dwarf interlopers, and additional faint galaxies were recovered. A comparison with JWST LFs at z > 7 suggests a gentle evolution in the bright-end slope, although this is limited by a lack of robust bright-end measurements at z > 9. We forecast that in the Euclid Deep Fields, the removal of contaminant ultra-cool dwarfs as point sources will be possible at JE < 24.5. Finally, we present a high-equivalent-width Lyman-α emitter candidate identified by combining HSC, VISTA, and Euclid broadband photometry, highlighting the synergistic power these instruments will have in the Euclid Auxiliary Fields for identifying extreme sources in the epoch of reionisation. ★ This paper is published on behalf of the Euclid Consortium.