PENTERICCI, LauraLauraPENTERICCIVANZELLA, ErosErosVANZELLACASTELLANO, MARCOMARCOCASTELLANOFONTANA, AdrianoAdrianoFONTANADe Barros, S.S.De BarrosGRAZIAN, AndreaAndreaGRAZIANMARCHI, FRANCESCAFRANCESCAMARCHIBradac, M.M.BradacConselice, C. J.C. J.ConseliceCRISTIANI, StefanoStefanoCRISTIANIDickinson, M.M.DickinsonFinkelstein, S. L.S. L.FinkelsteinGIALLONGO, EmanueleEmanueleGIALLONGOGuaita, L.L.GuaitaKoekemoer, A. M.A. M.KoekemoerMaiolino, R.R.MaiolinoSANTINI, PaolaPaolaSANTINITilvi, V.V.Tilvi2021-01-212021-01-2120180004-6361http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/29927We present the results of CANDELSz7, a European Southern Observatory (ESO) Large Program aimed at spectroscopically confirming a homogeneous sample of z ≃ 6 and z ≃ 7 star forming galaxies. The candidates were selected in the GOODS-South, UDS, and COSMOS fields using the official CANDELS catalogs based on H<SUB>160</SUB>-band detections. Standard color criteria, which were tailored depending on the ancillary multi-wavelength data available for each field, were applied to select more than 160 candidate galaxies at z ≃ 6 and z ≃ 7. Deep, medium-resolution FORS2 spectroscopic observations were then conducted with integration times ranging from 12 to 20 h to reach a Lyα flux limit of approximately 1 - 3 × 10<SUP>-18</SUP> erg s<SUP>-1</SUP> cm<SUP>-2</SUP> at 3σ. We could determine a spectroscopic redshift for about 40% of the galaxies, mainly through the detection of a single emission line that we interpret as Lyα emission, or for some of the brightest objects (H<SUB>160</SUB> ≤ 25.5) from the presence of faint continuum and a sharp drop that we interpret as a Lyα break. In this paper we present the redshifts and main properties of 65 newly confirmed high-redshift galaxies. Adding previous proprietary and archival data we assemble a sample of ≃260 galaxies that we use to explore the evolution of the Lyα fraction in Lyman break galaxies and the change in the shape of the emission line between z ∼ 6 and z ∼ 7. We also discuss the accuracy of the CANDELS photometric redshifts in this redshift range.STAMPAenArticle10.1051/0004-6361/2017324652-s2.0-85053551629000450607500002http://arxiv.org/abs/1808.01847v1https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2018/11/aa32465-17/aa32465-17.html2018A&A...619A.147PFIS/05 - ASTRONOMIA E ASTROFISICA