A Lyman α emitter at z = 6.5 found with slitless spectroscopy

We report the discovery of a Lyman α emitting galaxy at z = 6.518. The single line was found in the 43 arcmin 2 VLT/FORS field by slitless spectroscopy limited to the atmospheric window at λ ∼ 9100 A (sampling Lyα at 6.4 80 A. The lower limit to the star formation rate density at z = 6.5 derived from our complete sample is 5 × 10 −4 Myr −1 Mpc −3 , consistent with measurements in the Subaru Deep Field and Hubble Ultra Deep Field but approximately ten times higher than in the Large Area Lyman Alpha survey. This Lyα emitter is among the very small sample of highest redshift galaxies known.