Open AccessThe infrared glow of the first stars
Author(s) -
Salvaterra Ruben,
Magliocchetti Manuela,
Ferrara Andrea,
Schneider Raffaella
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society: letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.067
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1745-3933
pISSN - 1745-3925
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2006.00145.x
Subject(s) - physics , stars , astrophysics , galaxy , cosmic infrared background , infrared , infrared excess , star formation , population , cosmic cancer database , astronomy , cosmic microwave background , demography , quantum mechanics , anisotropy , sociology
Kashlinsky et al. find a significant cosmic infrared background fluctuation excess on angular scales ≳50 arcsec that cannot be explained by instrumental noise or local foregrounds. The excess has been tentatively attributed to emission from primordial, very massive (Population III, hereafter PopIII) stars formed ≤ 200 Myr after the Big Bang. Using an evolutionary model motivated by independent observations and including various feedback processes, we find that PopIII stars can contribute <40 per cent of the total background intensity ( ν J ν ∼ 1–2 nW m −2 sr −1 in the 0.8–8 μm range) produced by all galaxies (hosting both PopIII and PopII stars) at z ≥ 5 . The infrared fluctuation excess is instead very precisely accounted for by the clustering signal of galaxies at z ≥ 5 , predominantly hosting PopII stars with masses and properties similar to the present ones.