Euclid: ERO -- NISP-only sources and the search for luminous $z=6-8$ galaxies

Understand

This paper presents a search for high redshift galaxies from the Euclid Early Release Observations program "Magnifying Lens." The 1.5 deg$^2$ area covered by the twin Abell lensing cluster fields is comparable in size to the few other deep near-infrared surveys such as COSMOS, and so provides an opportunity to significantly increase known samples of rare UV-bright galaxies at $z\approx6-8$ ($M_{\rm UV}\lesssim-22$).

• Beyond their still uncertain role in reionisation, these UV-bright galaxies are ideal laboratories from which to study galaxy formation and constrain the bright-end of the UV luminosity function.
• Of the 501994 sources detected from a combined $Y_{\rm E}$, $J_{\rm E}$, and $H_{\rm E}$ NISP detection image, 168 do not have any appreciable VIS/$I_{\rm E}$ flux.
• These objects span a range in spectral colours, separated into two classes: 139 extremely red sources; and 29 Lyman-break galaxy candidates.