Narrow-band imaging in the infrared is one of the most promising way to discover the z~7-10 lyman emitters, possibly responsible for the re-ionisation of the Universe. I will describe the ZEN (Z Equal Nine) VLT survey for lensed and non-lensed lyman alpha emitters at these redshifts. Although we do not detect any ZEN galaxy so far, we can already place a useful upper limit on the surface density and on the luminosity of such objects. Given these limites, future prospects to detect ZEN galaxies with
large field IR imagers are very good.
|