Normal, dust-obscured galaxies in the epoch of reionization.

Abstract

Over the past decades, rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) observations have provided large samples of UV luminous galaxies at redshift (z) greater than 6 (refs. 1-3), during the so-called epoch of reionization. While a few of these UV-identified galaxies revealed substantial dust reservoirs4-7, very heavily dust-obscured sources at these early times have remained elusive. They are limited to a rare population of extreme starburst galaxies8-12 and companions of rare quasars13,14. These studies conclude that the contribution of dust-obscured galaxies to the cosmic star formation rate density at z\u2009>\u20096 is sub-dominant. Recent ALMA and Spitzer observations have identified a more abundant, less extreme population of obscured galaxies at z\u2009=\u20093-6 (refs. 15,16). However, this population has not been confirmed in the reionization epoch so far. Here, we report the discovery of two dust-obscured star-forming galaxies at z\u2009=\u20096.6813\u2009±\u20090.0005 and z\u2009=\u20097.3521\u2009±\u20090.0005. These objects are not detected in existing rest-frame UV data and were discovered only\xa0through their far-infrared [C\u2009II] lines and dust continuum emission as companions to typical UV-luminous galaxies at the same redshift. The two galaxies exhibit lower infrared luminosities and star-formation rates than extreme starbursts, in line with typical star-forming galaxies at z\u2009≈\u20097. This population of heavily dust-obscured galaxies appears to contribute 10-25% to the z\u2009>\u20096 cosmic star formation rate density.