Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher.
Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?
Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.
-
Other: The CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS) is a JWST Cycle 1 GTO program targeting 5 lensing clusters and their adjacent flanking fields in parallel (Abell 370, MACS0416, MACS0417, MACS1149, MACS1423), using a unique combination of NIRCam imaging, NIRISS slitless spectroscopy, and NIRSpec prism multi-object spectroscopy. Fields centered on galaxy cluster cores include imaging in 7 wide and 1 medium band from 0.9–4.4 μm, alongside continuous NIRISS coverage from 1.15–2 μm, while the NIRCam flanking fields provide 5 wide and 9 medium band filters for exceptional spectral sampling, all to 29–30 mag. The HLSP team provides NIRCam, NIRISS and HST imaging, including custom modeling and subtraction of bright cluster galaxies, PSFs and PSF-matched imaging, photometric catalogs, photometric and spectroscopic redshifts, lens models, and stellar population parameters derived using both the Bagpipes and Dense Basis codes.more » « less
-
Deep JWST imaging of the massive galaxy cluster MACS0417.5−1154, at redshiftz= 0.443, reveals a huge population of globular clusters (GCs) and ultracompact dwarfs (UCDs) primarily distributed around its single central giant brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We present Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam)/short-wavelength channel photometry of the GC system in four bands (F090W, F115W, F150W, and F200W). The spatial distribution of the system matches well in radial and ellipticity profile with the high elongation (b/a ≃ 0.5) of the BCG halo light. The total GC population within MACS0417 is estimated to be near 1.5 × 105, similar to the systems in Abell 2744, Coma, and other galaxy clusters with comparable masses. With similar results for GC photometry in hand from other lensing clusters at a range of redshifts, it is now possible to trace, on purely observational grounds, the luminosity evolution of GC systems over many gigayears of lookback time, as seen through their color–magnitude diagrams. We show this sequence for five systems reaching lookback times of more than 7 Gyr. A systematic change in the GC/UCD sequence with lookback time is clearly visible, near what is expected for age-fading of a simple stellar population with time. Lastly, we evaluate the effectiveness of the various JWST NIRCam filters for broadband photometry of GC systems as a function of redshift as an aid to planning further studies.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available November 5, 2026
-
Abstract Early JWST photometric studies discovered a population of UV-faint ( )z ∼ 6.5–8 Lyman break galaxies with spectral energy distributions implying young ages (∼10 Myr) yet relatively weak Hβ+ [Oiii] equivalent widths (EWHβ+ [Oiii] ≈ 400 Å). These galaxies seemingly contradict the implicit understanding that young star-forming galaxies are ubiquitously strong Hβ+ [Oiii] emitters, i.e., extreme emission line galaxies (EW ≳750 Å). Low metallicities, high Lyman continuum escape fractions, and rapidly declining star formation histories have been proposed as primary drivers behind low Hβ+ [Oiii] EWs, but the blend of Hβ+ [Oiii] in photometric studies makes proving one of these scenarios difficult. We aim to characterize this peculiar population with deep spectroscopy from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey. We find that a significant subset of these galaxies atz ≳ 2 with modest Hβ+ [Oiii] EWs (≈300–600 Å) have high ionization efficiencies ( ). Suppressed [Oiii] EW values yet elevated Hαand HβEW values imply that the level of chemical enrichment is the primary culprit, supported by spectroscopic measurements of metallicities below 12 + log(O/H) ≈ 7.70 (0.1Z⊙). We demonstrate that integrated Hβ+ [Oiii] selections (e.g., Hβ+ [Oiii] EW > 700 Å) exclude the most metal-poor efficient ionizers and favor (1) more chemically enriched systems with comparable extreme radiation fields and (2) older starbursting systems. In contrast, metallicity degeneracies are reduced in Hαspace, enabling the identification of these metal-poor efficient ionizers by their specific star formation rate.more » « less
-
Abstract We study the large-scale environments and clustering properties of 28 low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) atz = 3.9–6 in the GOODS-N field. Our sample, identified from the JWST NIRCam Imaging and WFSS data in Complete NIRCam Grism Redshift Survey and First Reionization Epoch Spectroscopically Complete Observations surveys with either broad Hαemission lines or V-shaped continua, are compared to 782 Hαemitters (HAEs) selected from the same data. These AGNs are located in diverse large-scale environments and do not preferentially reside in denser environments compared to HAEs. Their overdensity field,δ, averaged over (15h−1cMpc)3, ranges from −0.56 to 10.56, and shows no clear correlation with broad-line luminosity, black hole (BH) masses, or the AGN fraction. It suggests that >10 cMpc structures do not significantly influence BH growth. We measure the two-point cross-correlation function of AGNs with HAEs, finding a comparable amplitude to that of the HAE autocorrelation. This indicates similar bias parameters and host dark matter halo masses for AGNs and HAEs. The correlation length of field AGNs is 4.26h−1cMpc and 7.66h−1cMpc at 3.9 < z < 5 and 5 < z < 6, respectively. We infer a median host dark matter halo mass of and host stellar masses of by comparing with the UniverseMachinesimulation. Our clustering analysis suggests that low-luminosity AGNs at high redshift reside in normal star-forming galaxies with overmassive BHs. They represent an intrinsically distinct population from luminous quasars and could be a common phase in galaxy evolution.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available January 14, 2027
-
Abstract We study the luminosity function (LF) and clustering properties of 888 Hαemitters (HAEs) at 3.75 < z < 6 in the GOODS-N field. The sample, built from JWST CONGRESS and FRESCO NIRCam grism surveys using a novel redshift assignment algorithm, spans ∼62 arcmin2and reachesLHα ∼ 1041.2erg s−1. We identify two prominent filamentary protoclusters atz ≈ 4.41 andz ≈ 5.19, hosting 98 and 144 HAEs, respectively. The observed HαLFs show similar shallow faint-end slopes for both protocluster and field galaxies at 3.75 < z < 5, and for the protocluster at 5 < z < 6 (α ≈ −1.2 to −1.3). In contrast, the field LF at 5 < z < 6 has a much steeper slope ( ), suggesting that protocluster galaxies atz > 5 are more evolved, resembling the populations at 3.75 < z < 5. The observed star formation rate density from Hαintegrated down to 0.45M⊙yr−1, is at 3.75 < z < 5 and at 5 < z < 6, with protoclusters contributing about 25% and 55%, respectively. This implies a large fraction of star formation atz> 4 occurs in protoclusters. For the first time, we conduct the star formation-rate-limited three-dimensional clustering analysis atz > 4. We find that the filamentary geometry of protoclusters flattens the power-law shape of the HAE autocorrelation functions, with slopes much shallower than the typically assumed value. The autocorrelation function of field HAEs has a correlation length of atz ≈ 4−5 and atz ≈ 5−6. Comparing the observed correlation functions with the UniverseMachinesimulation, we infer the dark matter (sub-)halo masses of HAEs to be atz ≈ 4−6, with a scatter of 0.4 dex.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available January 23, 2027
-
Abstract Theoretical models predict thatz≳ 6 quasars are hosted in the most massive halos of the underlying dark matter distribution and thus would be immersed in protoclusters of galaxies. However, observations report inconclusive results. We investigate the 1.1 proper-Mpc2environment of thez= 7.54 luminous quasar ULAS J1342+0928. We search for Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) candidates using deep imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)/F814W, Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)/F105W/F125W bands, and Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera at 3.6 and 4.5μm. We report a LBG with magF125W= 26.41 at 223 projected proper kpc (pkpc) from the quasar. We find no HST counterpart to one [Cii] emitter previously found with the Atacama Large millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 27 projected pkpc andz[C II]=7.5341 ± 0.0009 (Venemans et al. 2020). We estimate the completeness of our LBG candidates using results from Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey/GOODS deep blank field searches sharing a similar filter setup. We find that >50% of thez∼ 7.5 Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) with magF125W> 25.5 are missed due to the absence of a filter redward of the Lyman break in F105W, hindering the UV color accuracy of the candidates. We conduct a QSO-LBG clustering analysis revealing a low LBG excess of in this quasar field, consistent with an average or low-density field. Consequently, this result does not present strong evidence of an LBG overdensity around ULAS J1342+0928. Furthermore, we identify two LBG candidates with azphotmatching a confirmedz= 6.84 absorber along the line of sight to the quasar. All these galaxy candidates are excellent targets for follow-up observations with JWST and/or ALMA to confirm their redshift and physical properties.more » « less
-
ABSTRACT JWST has recently sparked a new era of Lyα spectroscopy, delivering the first measurements of the Lyα escape fraction and velocity profile in typical galaxies at z ≃ 6−10. These observations offer new prospects for insight into the earliest stages of reionization. But to realize this potential, we need robust models of Lyα properties in galaxies at z ≃ 5−6 when the IGM is mostly ionized. Here, we use new JWST observations from the JADES and FRESCO surveys combined with VLT/MUSE and Keck/DEIMOS data to characterize statistical distributions of Lyα velocity offsets, escape fractions, and EWs in z ≃ 5−6 galaxies. We find that galaxies with large Lyα escape fractions (>0.2) are common at z ≃ 5−6, comprising 30 per cent of Lyman break selected samples. Comparing to literature studies, our census suggests that Lyα becomes more prevalent in the galaxy population towards higher redshift from z ∼ 3 to z ∼ 6, although we find that this evolution slows considerably between z ∼ 5 and z ∼ 6, consistent with modest attenuation from residual H i in the mostly ionized IGM at z ≃ 5−6. We find significant evolution in Lyα velocity profiles between z ≃ 2−3 and z ≃ 5−6, likely reflecting the influence of resonant scattering from residual intergalactic H i on the escape of Lyα emission near line centre. This effect will make it challenging to use Lyα peak offsets as a probe of Lyman continuum leakage at z ≃ 5−6. We use our z ≃ 5−6 Lyα distributions to make predictions for typical Lyα properties at z ≳ 8 and discuss implications of a recently discovered Lyα emitter at z ≃ 8.5 with a small peak velocity offset (156 km s−1).more » « less
-
We present the first data release of the Canadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS), a JWST Cycle 1 GTO program targeting five lensing clusters and flanking fields in parallel (A370, MACS0416, MACS0417, MACS1149, and MACS1423; survey area ∼100 arcmin2), with NIRCam imaging, NIRISS slitless spectroscopy, and NIRSpec prism multiobject spectroscopy. Fields centered on cluster cores include imaging in eight bands from 0.9–4.4μm, alongside continuous NIRISS coverage from 1.15–2μm, while the NIRCam flanking fields provide five wide-band and nine medium-band filters for exceptional spectral sampling, all to ∼29 magAB. We also present JWST in Technicolor, a Cycle 2 follow-up GO program targeting three CANUCS clusters (A370, MACS0416, and MACS1149). The Technicolor program adds NIRISS slitless spectroscopy in F090W to the cluster fields while adding eight wide-, medium-, and narrowband filters to the flanking fields. This provides NIRCam imaging in all wide- and medium-band filters over ∼30 arcmin2. This paper describes our data reduction and photometry methodology. We release NIRCam, NIRISS, and Hubble Space Telescope imaging, point-spread functions (PSFs), PSF-matched imaging, photometric catalogs, and photometric and spectroscopic redshifts. We provide lens models and stellar population parameters in up to 19 filters for ∼53,000 galaxies in the cluster fields, and ∼44,000 galaxies in up to 29 filters in the flanking fields. We further present 733 NIRSpec spectra and redshift measurements up toz = 10.8. Comparing against our photometric redshifts, we find catastrophic outlier rates of only 4%–7% and scatter ofσNMADof 0.01–0.03.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available December 16, 2026
-
Abstract Broad-line regions (BLRs) in high-redshift quasars provide crucial information on chemical enrichment in the early universe. Here we present a study of BLR metallicities in 33 quasars at redshift 5.7 < z < 6.4. Using the near-IR spectra of the quasars obtained from the Gemini telescope, we measure their rest-frame UV emission-line flux and calculate flux ratios. We then estimate BLR metallicities with empirical calibrations based on photoionization models. The inferred median metallicity of our sample is a few times the solar value, indicating that the BLR gas had been highly metal enriched at z ∼ 6. We compare our sample with a low-redshift quasar sample with similar luminosities and find no evidence of redshift evolution in quasar BLR metallicities. This is consistent with previous studies. The Fe ii /Mg ii flux ratio, a proxy for the Fe/ α element abundance ratio, shows no redshift evolution as well, further supporting rapid nuclear star formation at z ∼ 6. We also find that the black hole mass–BLR metallicity relation at z ∼ 6 is consistent with the relation measured at 2 < z < 5, suggesting that our results are not biased by a selection effect due to this relation.more » « less
-
We present ten novel [OIII]λ4363 auroral line detections up toz ∼ 9.5 measured from ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec MSA spectroscopy from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). We leverage the deepest spectroscopic observations taken thus far with NIRSpec to determine electron temperatures and oxygen abundances using the directTemethod. We directly compare these results against a suite of locally calibrated strong-line diagnostics and recent high-zcalibrations. We find the calibrations fail to simultaneously match our JADES sample, thus warranting a self-consistent revision of these calibrations for the high-zUniverse. We find a weak dependence between R2 and O3O2 with metallicity, thus suggesting these line ratios are inefficient in the high-zUniverse as metallicity diagnostics and degeneracy breakers. We find R3 and R23 are still correlated with metallicity, but we find a tentative flattening of these diagnostics, thus suggesting future difficulties when applying these strong line ratios as metallicity indicators in the high-zUniverse. We also propose and test an alternative diagnostic based on a different combination of R3 and R2 with a higher dynamic range. We find a reasonably good agreement (median offset of 0.002 dex, median absolute offset of 0.13 dex) with the JWST sample at low metallicity, but future investigations are required on larger samples to probe past the turnover point. At a given metallicity, our sample demonstrates higher ionization and excitation ratios than local galaxies with rest-frame EWs(Hβ) ≈200 − 300 Å. However, we find the median rest-frame EWs(Hβ) of our sample to be ∼2× less than the galaxies used for the local calibrations. This EW discrepancy combined with the high ionization of our galaxies does not offer a clear description of [OIII]λ4363 production in the high-zUniverse, thus warranting a much deeper examination into the factors influencing these processes.more » « less
An official website of the United States government
