To High Redshift and Low Mass: Exploring the Emergence of Quenched Galaxies and Their Environments at 3 < z < 6 in the Ultra-deep JADES MIRI F770W Parallel

Abstract We present the robust selection of high-redshift quiescent galaxies (QG) and poststarburst (PSB) galaxies using ultra-deep NIRCam and MIRI imaging from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). At 3 &lt; z &lt; 6, MIRI 7.7 μ m imaging provides rest-frame J band, which is commonly used to break the degeneracy between old stellar populations and dust attenuation at lower redshifts. We identify 23 passively evolving galaxies in UVJ color space in a mass-limited (log M ⋆ / M ⊙ ≥ 8.5) sample over 8.8 arcmin 2 . An evaluation of the contribution of the 7.7 μ m shows that JADES-like NIRCam coverage (9+ photometric bands) can compensate for lacking the J band at these redshifts; however, more limited three-band selections perform better with MIRI. Our sample is characterized by rapid quenching timescales (∼100–600 Myr) with formation redshifts z f ≲ 9 and includes a potential record-holding massive QG at <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>z</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>phot</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>5.33</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.17</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.16</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> and two QGs with evidence for significant residual dust content ( A V ∼ 1–2). In addition, we present a large sample of 12 log M ⋆ / M ⊙ = 8.5–9.5 PSBs, demonstrating that UVJ selection can be extended to low mass. An analysis of the environment of our sample reveals that the group known as the Cosmic Rose contains a massive QG and a dust-obscured star-forming galaxy (a so-called Jekyll and Hyde pair) plus three additional QGs within ∼20 kpc. Moreover, the Cosmic Rose is part of a larger overdensity at z ∼ 3.7, which contains 7/12 of our low-mass PSBs. Another four low-mass PSBs are members of an overdensity at z ∼ 3.4; this result strongly indicates low-mass PSBs are preferentially associated with overdense environments at z &gt; 3.

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Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2024-10-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad66cc
Citations
33
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.94

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article

To High Redshift and Low Mass: Exploring the Emergence of Quenched Galaxies and Their Environments at 3 < z < 6 in the Ultra-deep JADES MIRI F770W Parallel

Francesco D’Eugenio, Zhiyuan Ji, George H. Rieke, Jakob M. Helton et al.
33 citations
The Astrophysical Journal
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
10.94
article

To High Redshift and Low Mass: Exploring the Emergence of Quenched Galaxies and Their Environments at 3 < z < 6 in the Ultra-deep JADES MIRI F770W Parallel

Francesco D’Eugenio, Zhiyuan Ji, George H. Rieke, Jakob M. Helton, R. Maiolino, Benjamin D. Johnson, Stefano Carniani, Kevin Hainline, Nina Bonaventura, Sandro Tacchella, Chris J. Willott, S. Charlot, Jianwei Lyu, Christina C. Williams, Irene Shivaei, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Stacey Alberts, Katherine A. Suess, Yang Sun, Emma Curtis-Lake, Christopher N. A. Willmer, William Baker, Andrew J. Bunker, Brant E. Robertson, Marcia Rieke, Anna de Graaff, Ryan Hausen, Eleonora Parlanti
article en
33 citations

Abstract

Abstract We present the robust selection of high-redshift quiescent galaxies (QG) and poststarburst (PSB) galaxies using ultra-deep NIRCam and MIRI imaging from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). At 3 &lt; z &lt; 6, MIRI 7.7 μ m imaging provides rest-frame J band, which is commonly used to break the degeneracy between old stellar populations and dust attenuation at lower redshifts. We identify 23 passively evolving galaxies in UVJ color space in a mass-limited (log M ⋆ / M ⊙ ≥ 8.5) sample over 8.8 arcmin 2 . An evaluation of the contribution of the 7.7 μ m shows that JADES-like NIRCam coverage (9+ photometric bands) can compensate for lacking the J band at these redshifts; however, more limited three-band selections perform better with MIRI. Our sample is characterized by rapid quenching timescales (∼100–600 Myr) with formation redshifts z f ≲ 9 and includes a potential record-holding massive QG at <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>z</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>phot</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>5.33</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.17</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.16</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> and two QGs with evidence for significant residual dust content ( A V ∼ 1–2). In addition, we present a large sample of 12 log M ⋆ / M ⊙ = 8.5–9.5 PSBs, demonstrating that UVJ selection can be extended to low mass. An analysis of the environment of our sample reveals that the group known as the Cosmic Rose contains a massive QG and a dust-obscured star-forming galaxy (a so-called Jekyll and Hyde pair) plus three additional QGs within ∼20 kpc. Moreover, the Cosmic Rose is part of a larger overdensity at z ∼ 3.7, which contains 7/12 of our low-mass PSBs. Another four low-mass PSBs are members of an overdensity at z ∼ 3.4; this result strongly indicates low-mass PSBs are preferentially associated with overdense environments at z &gt; 3.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 975(1)
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (CA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Arizona (US), University of Hertfordshire (GB), Johns Hopkins University (US), Scuola Normale Superiore (IT), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), University of Cambridge (GB), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (FR), Sorbonne Université (FR), University of Oxford (GB), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), Centro de Astrobiología (ES), NSF NOIRLab (US), Stanford University (US)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, University of California, Santa Cruz, Aspen Center for Physics, University of Arizona, Space Telescope Science Institute, UK Research and Innovation, European Space Agency, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Goddard Space Flight Center, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
10.94
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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