EPOCHS paper – X. Environmental effects on Galaxy formation and protocluster Galaxy candidates at 4.5 &amp;lt; <i>z</i> &amp;lt; 10 from JWST observations

ABSTRACT In this paper, we describe our search for galaxy protocluster candidates at $4.5{&amp;lt;} z {&amp;lt;} 10$ and explore the environmental and physical properties of their member galaxies identified through JWST wide-field surveys within the CEERS (Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science), JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey), and PEARLS (Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science) NEP-TDF (North Ecliptic Pole Time-Domain Fields). Combining with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data, we identify 2948 robust $z&amp;gt;4.5$ galaxy candidates within an area of 185.4 arcmin$^2$. We determine nearest neighbour statistics and galaxy environments. We find that high-z galaxies in overdense environments exhibit higher star formation activity compared to those in underdense regions. Galaxies in dense environments have a slightly increased star formation rate (SFR) at a given mass compared with galaxies in the lower density environments. At the high-mass end, we also find a gradual flattening of the $M_{\star }$-SFR slope. We find that galaxies in high-density regions often have redder ultraviolet slopes than those in low-density regions, suggesting more dust extinction, weaker Ly α emission, and/or a higher damped Ly α absorption. The mass–size relation shows a weak positive correlation between galaxy size and local density. Furthermore, we quantitatively assess the probability of a galaxy belonging to a protocluster candidate. In total, we identified 26 overdensities at $z=5{\!-\!}7$ and estimate their dark matter halo masses. We find that all proto-cluster candidates could evolve into clusters with $M_{\rm halo} &amp;gt; 10^{14}{\rm M}_{\odot }$ at $z = 0$, thereby supporting the theoretical and simulation predictions of cluster formation. Notably, this marks an early search for protocluster candidates in JWST wide field based on photometric data, providing valuable candidates to study cosmic structure formation at the early stages.

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Publication Details

Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2025-04-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf543
Citations
12
Primary Topic
Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
14.30

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article

EPOCHS paper – X. Environmental effects on Galaxy formation and protocluster Galaxy candidates at 4.5 &lt; z &lt; 10 from JWST observations

Rogier A. Windhorst, Clayton Robertson, Rolf A. Jansen, Norman A. Grogin et al.
12 citations
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
14.30
article

EPOCHS paper – X. Environmental effects on Galaxy formation and protocluster Galaxy candidates at 4.5 &lt; z &lt; 10 from JWST observations

Rogier A. Windhorst, Clayton Robertson, Rolf A. Jansen, Norman A. Grogin, Nimish P. Hathi, Nathan Adams, H. Dole, Thomas Harvey, Christopher J. Conselice, Anton M. Koekemoer, Florian Sarron, Brenda Frye, James Trussler, Duncan Austin, M. Polletta, Lewi Westcott, Qiong Li, Leonardo Ferreira, Qiao Duan, Honor Harris
article en
12 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, we describe our search for galaxy protocluster candidates at $4.5{&amp;lt;} z {&amp;lt;} 10$ and explore the environmental and physical properties of their member galaxies identified through JWST wide-field surveys within the CEERS (Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science), JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey), and PEARLS (Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science) NEP-TDF (North Ecliptic Pole Time-Domain Fields). Combining with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data, we identify 2948 robust $z&amp;gt;4.5$ galaxy candidates within an area of 185.4 arcmin$^2$. We determine nearest neighbour statistics and galaxy environments. We find that high-z galaxies in overdense environments exhibit higher star formation activity compared to those in underdense regions. Galaxies in dense environments have a slightly increased star formation rate (SFR) at a given mass compared with galaxies in the lower density environments. At the high-mass end, we also find a gradual flattening of the $M_{\star }$-SFR slope. We find that galaxies in high-density regions often have redder ultraviolet slopes than those in low-density regions, suggesting more dust extinction, weaker Ly α emission, and/or a higher damped Ly α absorption. The mass–size relation shows a weak positive correlation between galaxy size and local density. Furthermore, we quantitatively assess the probability of a galaxy belonging to a protocluster candidate. In total, we identified 26 overdensities at $z=5{\!-\!}7$ and estimate their dark matter halo masses. We find that all proto-cluster candidates could evolve into clusters with $M_{\rm halo} &amp;gt; 10^{14}{\rm M}_{\odot }$ at $z = 0$, thereby supporting the theoretical and simulation predictions of cluster formation. Notably, this marks an early search for protocluster candidates in JWST wide field based on photometric data, providing valuable candidates to study cosmic structure formation at the early stages.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 539(2)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), University of Arizona (US), University of Louisville (US), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), University of Victoria (CA), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), University of Manchester (GB), Université Toulouse-I-Capitole (FR), University of California San Diego (US), Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (FR), Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano (IT), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse (FR), Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (FR), Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux (FR), Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR), Arizona State University (US)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space Telescope Science Institute, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Goddard Space Flight Center, Science and Technology Facilities Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
14.30
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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