ALMA Imaging Through a 30x Magnifying Glass: Resolving the Physical Properties of a Typical Star-Forming Galaxy at z~2.8
Mapping the dust and molecular gas distribution at sub-kpc scales is crucial for understanding the physical mechanisms that govern star formation in galaxies, particularly at z~2-3, when the star formation rate density of the universe was at its peak. At these redshifts, near-IR IFU and HST UV rest-frame observations have shown that galaxies often exhibit irregular morphologies dominated by compact and bright stellar clumps, whose formation mechanisms and contributions to galaxy mass buildup remain highly debated. Strong gravitational lensing has proven to be a powerful tool for spatially resolving the individual star-forming regions in these high-z galaxies. Despite significant advancements, most of these studies have focused on the brightest and most massive systems, leaving our understanding of fainter, low-mass objects incomplete. To address this gap, we present the ALMA follow-up of a lensed “normal” disk-like galaxy at z~2.8 (M*=1.6e10 M_sol, SFR=100-150 M_sol/yr) behind the Bullet Cluster, which exhibits one of the highest differential magnifications ever recorded (up to 50!). This extreme magnification, combined with our new ALMA 0.2”-resolution imaging of its CO(3-2) and continuum emission, allows us to reach exceptional 50-150 parsec scales at z~2.8. This has enabled exquisite diagnostics of the star-forming clump properties, including their morpho-kinematics, the Schmidt-Kennicutt law, Larson's relations, and other discoveries to be presented at the conference.
