Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Joris Witstok
Irene Shivaei
Renske Smit
Roberto Maiolino
Stefano Carniani
Emma Curtis-Lake
Pierre Ferruit
Santiago Arribas
Andrew J. Bunker
Alex J. Cameron
Stephane Charlot
Jacopo Chevallard
Mirko Curti
Anna de Graaff
Francesco D'Eugenio
Giovanna Giardino
Tobias J. Looser
Tim Rawle
Bruno Rodríguez del Pino
Chris Willott
Abstract： Interstellar dust captures a significant fraction of elements heavier than helium in the solid state and is an indispensable component both in theory and observations of galaxy evolution. Dust emission is generally the primary coolant of the interstellar medium (ISM) and facilitates the gravitational collapse and fragmentation of gas clouds from which stars form, while altering the emission spectrum of galaxies from ultraviolet (UV) to far-infrared wavelengths through the reprocessing of starlight. However, the astrophysical origin of various types of dust grains remains an open question, especially in the early Universe. Here we report direct evidence for the presence of carbonaceous grains from the detection of the broad UV absorption feature around $2175 \, \mathring{\rm A}$ in deep near-infrared spectra of galaxies up to the first billion years of cosmic time, at a redshift ($z$) of $\sim 7$. This dust attenuation feature has previously only been observed spectroscopically in older, more evolved galaxies at redshifts of $z < 3$. The carbonaceous grains giving rise to this feature are often thought to be produced on timescales of hundreds of millions of years by asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Our results suggest a more rapid production scenario, likely in supernova (SN) ejecta.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Alex J. Cameron
Aayush Saxena
Andrew J. Bunker
Francesco D'Eugenio
Stefano Carniani
Roberto Maiolino
Emma Curtis-Lake
Pierre Ferruit
Peter Jakobsen
Santiago Arribas
Nina Bonaventura
Stephane Charlot
Jacopo Chevallard
Mirko Curti
Tobias J. Looser
Michael V. Maseda
Tim Rawle
Bruno Rodríguez Del Pino
Renske Smit
Hannah Übler
Abstract： We present emission line ratios from a sample of 26 Lyman break galaxies from
$z\sim5.5-9.5$ with $-17.0
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Tobias J. Looser
Francesco D'Eugenio
Roberto Maiolino
Joris Witstok
Lester Sandles
Emma Curtis-Lake
Jacopo Chevallard
Sandro Tacchella
Benjamin D. Johnson
William M. Baker
Katherine A. Suess
Stefano Carniani
Pierre Ferruit
Santiago Arribas
Nina Bonaventura
Andrew J. Bunker
Alex J. Cameron
Stephane Charlot
Mirko Curti
Anna de Graaff
Abstract： Local galaxies are known to broadly follow a bimodal distribution: actively star forming and quiescent systems (i.e. galaxies with no or negligible star formation activity at the epoch of observation). Why, when and how such bimodality was established, and whether it has been associated with different processes at different cosmic epochs, is still a key open question in extragalactic astrophysics. Directly observing early quiescent galaxies in the primordial Universe is therefore of utmost importance to constraining models of galaxy formation and transformation. Early quiescent galaxies have been identified out to redshift $z < 5$, and these are all found to be massive ($M_{*}>10^{10}~M_{\odot}$). Here we report the discovery of a quiescent galaxy at z$=$7.3, when the Universe was only 700 Myr old - about 5% of its current age. The JWST/NIRSpec spectrum of this galaxy from our JADES programme exhibits a complete absence of nebular emission lines, while the Balmer break and Ly$\alpha$ drop are unambiguously detected. We infer that this galaxy experienced a short and intense burst of star formation followed by rapid quenching, about 10-20 Myr before the epoch of observation. Particularly interesting is that the mass of this quiescent galaxy is only $\sim$4-6$\times 10^8~M_{\odot}$. This mass range is sensitive to various feedback mechanisms that can result in temporary or permanent quiescence. Therefore this galaxy represents a unique opportunity to learn more about galaxy formation and transformation in the early Universe.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Aayush Saxena
Brant E. Robertson
Andrew J. Bunker
Ryan Endsley
Alex J. Cameron
Stephane Charlot
Charlotte Simmonds
Sandro Tacchella
Joris Witstok
Chris Willott
Stefano Carniani
Emma Curtis-Lake
Pierre Ferruit
Peter Jakobsen
Santiago Arribas
Jacopo Chevallard
Mirko Curti
Francesco D'Eugenio
Anna De Graaff
Gareth C. Jones
Abstract： We report the discovery of a remarkable Ly$\alpha$ emitting galaxy at $z=7.278$, JADES-GS+53.16746-27.7720 (shortened to JADES-GS-z7-LA), with EW$_0$(Ly$\alpha$) $\approx400 \pm 90$A and UV magnitude $-16.7$. The spectroscopic redshift is confirmed via rest-frame optical lines [O II], H$\beta$ and [O III] in its JWST/NIRSpec Micro-Shutter Assembly (MSA) spectrum. The Ly$\alpha$ line is detected in both lower resolution ($R\sim100$) PRISM as well as medium resolution ($R\sim1000$) G140M grating spectra. The Ly$\alpha$ FWHM in the grating is $\approx360$ km s$^{-1}$ and the line peaks within $120$ km s$^{-1}$ of the systemic redshift, indicative of very little neutral gas or dust within the galaxy. We estimate the Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction to be $\sim100\%$. JADES-GS-z7-LA has a [O III]/[O II] ratio (O32) of $8.8 \pm 1.1$ and ([O III]+[O II])/H$\beta$ ratio (R23) of $9.6\pm2.2$, consistent with low metallicity and high ionization parameters. Deep NIRCam imaging also revealed a close companion source (separated by $0.23''$), which exhibits similar photometry to that of JADES-GS-z7-LA, with a photometric excess in the F410M NIRCam image consistent with [O III]+H$\beta$ emission at the same redshift. The spectral energy distribution of JADES-GS-z7-LA indicates a `bursty' star-formation history, with a low stellar mass of $10^{7.15}$ M$_\odot$. The only explanation of the high EW Ly$\alpha$ emission seen in JADES-GS-z7-LA is if it resides in an ionized bubble with radius $\gtrsim 3$ pMpc. Owing to the faint nature of JADES-GS-z7-LA, we show that it is incapable of single-handedly ionizing a bubble large enough. Therefore, we suggest that JADES-GS-z7-LA (and possibly the companion source) may be a part of a larger overdensity, presenting direct evidence of overlapping ionized bubbles at $z>7$, allowing us to study the process of reionization across both small and large scales.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Christina C. Williams
Sandro Tacchella
Michael V. Maseda
Brant E. Robertson
Benjamin D. Johnson
Chris J. Willott
Daniel J. Eisenstein
Christopher N. A. Willmer
Zhiyuan Ji
Kevin N. Hainline
Jakob M. Helton
Stacey Alberts
Stefi Baum
Rachana Bhatawdekar
Kristan Boyett
Andrew J. Bunker
Stefano Carniani
Stephane Charlot
Jacopo Chevallard
Emma Curtis-Lake
Abstract： We present JEMS (JWST Extragalactic Medium-band Survey), the first public
medium-band imaging survey carried out using JWST/NIRCam and NIRISS. These
observations use $\sim2\mu$m and $\sim4\mu$m medium-band filters (NIRCam F182M,
F210M, F430M, F460M, F480M; and NIRISS F430M & F480M in parallel) over 15.6
square arcminutes in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF), thereby building on the
deepest multi-wavelength public datasets available anywhere on the sky. We
describe our science goals, survey design, NIRCam and NIRISS image reduction
methods, and describe our first data release of the science-ready mosaics. Our
chosen filters create a JWST imaging survey in the UDF that enables novel
analysis of a range of spectral features potentially across the redshift range
of $0.3
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Lukas J. Furtak
Adi Zitrin
Adèle Plat
Seiji Fujimoto
Bingjie Wang
Erica J. Nelson
Ivo Labbé
Rachel Bezanson
Gabriel B. Brammer
Pieter van Dokkum
Ryan Endsley
Karl Glazebrook
Jenny E. Greene
Joel Leja
Sedona H. Price
Renske Smit
Daniel P. Stark
John R. Weaver
Katherine E. Whitaker
Hakim Atek
Abstract： Recent JWST/NIRcam imaging taken for the ultra-deep UNCOVER program reveal a very red, triply imaged, compact dropout object at $z_{\mathrm{phot}}\simeq7.66$ which is prominently lensed by the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 ($z_{\mathrm{d}}=0.308$). All three images are very compact, i.e. unresolved, with an inferred de-lensed size upper limit of $r_{e}\lesssim35$ pc. The observed F444W magnitude of the three images is $m\sim25-26$ AB and the source's absolute UV magnitude is $M_{\mathrm{UV},1450}=-16.81\pm0.09$, after correcting for magnification. From the sum of observed fluxes and from a spectral energy distribution (SED) fit we obtain lower limits on the bolometric luminosities of $L_{\mathrm{bol}}\gtrsim10^{43} \frac{\mathrm{erg}}{\mathrm{s}}$ and $L_{\mathrm{bol}}\gtrsim10^{44} \frac{\mathrm{erg}}{\mathrm{s}}$ for the source, respectively. Based on its compact, point-like appearance, its positions in color-color and $M_{\mathrm{UV}}$-size diagrams and the SED analysis, we tentatively conclude that this object could be a faint quasar-like object, i.e., an extreme emission line object whose nebular emission is boosted by an active galactic nucleus (AGN). We discuss various alternative origins for the object's emission features, including a massive star cluster, a cluster of Population III, supermassive, or dark stars, or a direct-collapse black hole. Although populations of red galaxies at similar photometric redshifts have been detected with JWST, this object is unique in that its high-redshift nature is corroborated geometrically by lensing, that it is unresolved despite being magnified -- and thus intrinsically even more compact -- and that it occupies notably distinct regions in both size-luminosity and color-color space. The planned UNCOVER JWST/NIRSpec observations (scheduled in Cycle 1) will enable a more detailed analysis of this object.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
John R. Weaver
Sam E. Cutler
Richard Pan
Katherine E. Whitaker
Ivo Labbe
Sedona H. Price
Rachel Bezanson
Gabriel Brammer
Danilo Marchesini
Joel Leja
Bingjie Wang
Lukas J. Furtak
Adi Zitrin
Hakim Atek
Dan Coe
Pratika Dayal
Pieter van Dokkum
Robert Feldmann
Natascha Forster Schreiber
Marijn Franx
Abstract： In November 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) returned deep near-infrared images of Abell~2744 -- a powerful lensing cluster capable of magnifying distant, incipient galaxies beyond it. Together with the existing Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, this publicly available dataset opens a fundamentally new discovery space to understand the remaining mysteries of the formation and evolution of galaxies across cosmic time. In this work, we detect and measure some 50,000 objects across the 45 arcmin$^2$ JWST footprint down to a $5\,\sigma$ limiting magnitude of $\sim$29.9\,mag in 0.32" apertures. Photometry is performed using circular apertures on images matched to the point spread function of the reddest NIRCam band, F444W, and cleaned of bright cluster galaxies and the related intra-cluster light. To give an impression of the photometric performance, we measure photometric redshifts and achieve a $\sigma_{\rm NMAD}\approx0.03$ based on known, but relatively small, spectroscopic samples. With this paper, we publicly release HST and JWST PSF-matched photometric catalogs optimized for bright and extended sources (0.7" apertures) and compact and faint sources (0.32" apertures) along with basic photometric redshifts, rest-frame colors, and individual magnification estimates. These catalogs will set the stage for efficient and deep spectroscopic follow-up of the first JWST-selected samples in Summer 2023.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Sandro Tacchella
Daniel J. Eisenstein
Kevin Hainline
Benjamin D. Johnson
William M. Baker
Jakob M. Helton
Brant Robertson
Katherine A. Suess
Zuyi Chen
Erica Nelson
Dávid Puskás
Fengwu Sun
Stacey Alberts
Eiichi Egami
Ryan Hausen
George Rieke
Marcia Rieke
Irene Shivaei
Christina C. Williams
Christopher N. A. Willmer
Abstract： We present JWST NIRCam 9-band near-infrared imaging of the luminous $z=10.6$ galaxy GN-z11 from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) of the GOODS-N field. We find a spectral energy distribution (SED) entirely consistent with the expected form of a high-redshift galaxy: a clear blue continuum from 1.5 to 4 microns with a complete dropout in F115W. The core of GN-z11 is extremely compact in JWST imaging. We analyze the image with a two-component model, using a point source and a S\'{e}rsic profile that fits to a half-light radius of 200 pc and an index $n=0.9$. We find a low-surface brightness haze about $0.4''$ to the northeast of the galaxy, which is most likely a foreground object but might be a more extended component of GN-z11. At a spectroscopic redshift of 10.60 (Bunker et al. 2023), the comparison of the NIRCam F410M and F444W images spans the Balmer jump. From population synthesis modeling, here assuming no light from an active galactic nucleus, we reproduce the SED of GN-z11, finding a stellar mass of $\sim$$10^{9}~M_{\odot}$, a star-formation rate of $\sim$$20~M_{\odot}~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ and a young stellar age of $\sim$$20~\mathrm{Myr}$. As massive galaxies at high redshift are likely to be highly clustered, we search for faint neighbors of GN-z11, finding 9 galaxies out to $\sim$5 comoving Mpc transverse with photometric redshifts consistent with $z=10.6$, and a 10$^{\rm th}$ more tentative dropout only $3''$ away.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Fengwu Sun
Eiichi Egami
Nor Pirzkal
Marcia Rieke
Stefi Baum
Martha Boyer
Kristan Boyett
Andrew J. Bunker
Alex J. Cameron
Mirko Curti
Daniel J. Eisenstein
Mario Gennaro
Thomas P. Greene
Daniel Jaffe
Doug Kelly
Anton M. Koekemoer
Nimisha Kumari
Roberto Maiolino
Michael Maseda
Michele Perna
Abstract： We present a sample of four emission-line galaxies at $z=6.11-6.35$ that were serendipitously discovered using the commissioning data for the JWST/NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy (WFSS) mode. One of them (at $z=6.11$) has been reported previously while the others are new discoveries. These sources are selected by the secure detections of both [O III] $\lambda$5007 and H$\alpha$ lines with other fainter lines tentatively detected in some cases (e.g., [O II] $\lambda$3727, [O III] $\lambda$4959 and [N II] $\lambda$6583). In the [O III]/H$\beta$ - [N II]/H$\alpha$ Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich diagram, these galaxies occupy the same parameter space as that of $z\sim2$ star-forming galaxies, indicating that they have been enriched rapidly to sub-solar metallicities ($\sim$0.6 $Z_{\odot}$), similar to galaxies with comparable stellar masses at much lower redshifts. The detection of strong H$\alpha$ lines suggests a higher ionizing photon production efficiency within galaxies in the early Universe. We find brightening of the [O III] $\lambda$5007 line luminosity function (LF) from $z=3$ to 6, and no or weak redshift evolution of the H$\alpha$ line LF from $z=2$ to 6. Both LFs are under-predicted at $z\sim6$ by a factor of $\sim$10 in certain cosmological simulations. This further indicates a global Ly$\alpha$ photon escape fraction of 5-7% at $z\sim6$, much lower than previous estimates through the comparison of the UV-derived star-formation rate density and Ly$\alpha$ luminosity density. Our sample recovers $88^{+164}_{-57}$% of $z=6.0-6.6$ galaxies in the survey volume with stellar masses greater than $5\times10^8$ $M_{\odot}$, suggesting the ubiquity of strong H$\alpha$ and [O III] line emitters in the Epoch of Reionization, which will be further uncovered in the era of JWST.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Rachel Bezanson
Ivo Labbe
Katherine E. Whitaker
Joel Leja
Sedona H. Price
Marijn Franx
Gabe Brammer
Danilo Marchesini
Adi Zitrin
Bingjie Wang
John R. Weaver
Lukas J. Furtak
Hakim Atek
Dan Coe
Sam E. Cutler
Pratika Dayal
Pieter van Dokkum
Robert Feldmann
Natascha Forster Schreiber
Seiji Fujimoto
Abstract： In this paper we describe the survey design for the Ultradeep NIRSpec and NIRCam ObserVations before the Epoch of Reionization (UNCOVER) Cycle 1 JWST Treasury program, which executed its early imaging component in November 2022. The UNCOVER survey includes ultradeep ($\sim29-30\mathrm{AB}$) imaging of $\sim$45 arcmin$^2$ on and around the well-studied Abell 2744 galaxy cluster at $z=0.308$ and will follow-up ${\sim}500$ galaxies with extremely deep low-resolution spectroscopy with the NIRSpec/PRISM during the summer of 2023. We describe the science goals, survey design, target selection, and planned data releases. We also present and characterize the depths of the first NIRCam imaging mosaic, highlighting previously unparalleled resolved and ultradeep 2-4 micron imaging of known objects in the field. The UNCOVER primary NIRCam mosaic spans 28.8 arcmin$^2$ in seven filters (F115W, F150W, F200W, F277W, F356W, F410M, F444W) and 16.8 arcmin$^2$ in our NIRISS parallel (F115W, F150W, F200W, F356W, and F444W). To maximize early community use of the Treasury data set, we publicly release full reduced mosaics of public JWST imaging including 45 arcmin$^2$ NIRCam and 17 arcmin$^2$ NIRISS mosaics on and around the Abell 2744 cluster, including the Hubble Frontier Field primary and parallel footprints.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Fengwu Sun
Eiichi Egami
Nor Pirzkal
Marcia Rieke
Martha Boyer
Matteo Correnti
Mario Gennaro
Julien Girard
Thomas P. Greene
Doug Kelly
Anton M. Koekemoer
Jarron Leisenring
Karl Misselt
Nikolay Nikolov
Thomas L. Roellig
John Stansberry
Christina C. Williams
Christopher N. A. Willmer
Abstract： We report the serendipitous discovery of an [O III] $\lambda\lambda$4959/5007 and H$\alpha$ line emitter in the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) with the JWST commissioning data taken in the NIRCam wide field slitless spectroscopy (WFSS) mode. Located $\sim$55" away from the flux calibrator P330-E, this galaxy exhibits bright [O III] $\lambda\lambda$4959/5007 and H$\alpha$ lines detected at 3.7, 9.9 and 5.7$\sigma$, respectively, with a spectroscopic redshift of $z=6.112\pm0.001$. The total H$\beta$+[O III] equivalent width is 664$\pm$98 \r{A} (454$\pm$78 \r{A} from the [O III] $\lambda$5007 line). This provides direct spectroscopic evidence for the presence of strong rest-frame optical lines (H$\beta$+[O III] and H$\alpha$) in EoR galaxies as inferred previously from the analyses of Spitzer/IRAC spectral energy distributions. Two spatial and velocity components are identified in this source, possibly indicating that this system is undergoing a major merger, which might have triggered the ongoing starburst with strong nebular emission lines over a timescale of $\sim$2 Myr as our SED modeling suggests. The tentative detection of He II $\lambda$4686 line ($1.9\sigma$), if real, may indicate the existence of very young and metal-poor star-forming regions with a hard UV radiation field. Finally, this discovery demonstrates the power and readiness of the JWST/NIRCam WFSS mode, and marks the beginning of a new era for extragalactic astronomy, in which EoR galaxies can be routinely discovered via blind slitless spectroscopy through the detection of rest-frame optical emission lines.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Andrew J. Bunker
Aayush Saxena
Alex J. Cameron
Chris J. Willott
Emma Curtis-Lake
Peter Jakobsen
Stefano Carniani
Renske Smit
Roberto Maiolino
Joris Witstok
Mirko Curti
Francesco D'Eugenio
Gareth C. Jones
Pierre Ferruit
Santiago Arribas
Stephane Charlot
Jacopo Chevallard
Giovanna Giardino
Anna de Graaff
Tobias J. Looser
Abstract： We present JADES JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy of GN-z11, the most luminous candidate $z>10$ Lyman break galaxy in the GOODS-North field with $M_{UV}=-21.5$. We derive a redshift of $z=10.603$ (lower than previous determinations) based on multiple emission lines in our low and medium resolution spectra over $0.8-5.3\,\mu$m. We significantly detect the continuum and measure a blue rest-UV spectral slope of $\beta=-2.4$. Remarkably, we see spatially-extended Lyman-$\alpha$ in emission (despite the highly-neutral IGM expected at this early epoch), offset 555 km/s redward of the systemic redshift. From our measurements of collisionally-excited lines of both low- and high-ionization (including [O II] $\lambda3727$, [Ne III] $\lambda 3869$ and C III] $\lambda1909$) we infer a high ionization parameter ($\log U\sim -2$). We detect the rarely-seen N IV] $\lambda1486$ and N III]$\lambda1748$ lines in both our low and medium resolution spectra, with other high ionization lines seen in low resolution spectrum such as He II (blended with O III]) and C IV (with a possible P-Cygni profile). Based on the observed rest-UV line ratios, we cannot conclusively rule out photoionization from AGN. The high C III]/He II ratios, however, suggest a likely star-formation explanation. If the observed emission lines are powered by star formation, then the strong N III] $\lambda1748$ observed may imply an unusually high $N/O$ abundance. Balmer emission lines (H$\gamma$, H$\delta$) are also detected, and if powered by star formation rather than an AGN we infer a star formation rate of $\sim 20-30 M_{\odot}\,\rm yr^{-1}$ (depending on the IMF) and low dust attenuation. Our NIRSpec spectroscopy confirms that GN-z11 is a remarkable galaxy with extreme properties seen 430 Myr after the Big Bang.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Emma Curtis-Lake
Stefano Carniani
Alex Cameron
Stephane Charlot
Peter Jakobsen
Roberto Maiolino
Andrew Bunker
Joris Witstok
Renske Smit
Jacopo Chevallard
Chris Willott
Pierre Ferruit
Santiago Arribas
Nina Bonaventura
Mirko Curti
Francesco D'Eugenio
Marijn Franx
Giovanna Giardino
Tobias J. Looser
Nora Lützgendorf
Abstract： Finding and characterising the first galaxies that illuminated the early
Universe at cosmic dawn is pivotal to understand the physical conditions and
the processes that led to the formation of the first stars. In the first few
months of operations, imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have
been used to identify tens of candidates of galaxies at redshift (z) greater
than 10, less than 450 million years after the Big Bang. However, none of these
candidates has yet been confirmed spectroscopically, leaving open the
possibility that they are actually low-redshift interlopers. Here we present
spectroscopic confirmation and analysis of four galaxies unambiguously detected
at redshift 10.3
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
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