JWST Reveals a Population of Ultrared, Flattened Galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 Previously Missed by HST
With just a month of data, JWST is already transforming our view of the universe, revealing and resolving starlight in unprecedented populations of galaxies. Although “HST-dark” galaxies have previously been detected at long wavelengths, these observations generally suffer from a lack of spatial res...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acc1e1 |
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| author | Erica J. Nelson Katherine A. Suess Rachel Bezanson Sedona H. Price Pieter van Dokkum Joel Leja Bingjie Wang Katherine E. Whitaker Ivo Labbé Laia Barrufet Gabriel Brammer Daniel J. Eisenstein Justus Gibson Abigail I. Hartley Benjamin D. Johnson Kasper E. Heintz Elijah Mathews Tim B. Miller Pascal A. Oesch Lester Sandles David J. Setton Joshua S. Speagle Sandro Tacchella Ken-ichi Tadaki Hannah Übler John. R. Weaver |
| author_facet | Erica J. Nelson Katherine A. Suess Rachel Bezanson Sedona H. Price Pieter van Dokkum Joel Leja Bingjie Wang Katherine E. Whitaker Ivo Labbé Laia Barrufet Gabriel Brammer Daniel J. Eisenstein Justus Gibson Abigail I. Hartley Benjamin D. Johnson Kasper E. Heintz Elijah Mathews Tim B. Miller Pascal A. Oesch Lester Sandles David J. Setton Joshua S. Speagle Sandro Tacchella Ken-ichi Tadaki Hannah Übler John. R. Weaver |
| author_sort | Erica J. Nelson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With just a month of data, JWST is already transforming our view of the universe, revealing and resolving starlight in unprecedented populations of galaxies. Although “HST-dark” galaxies have previously been detected at long wavelengths, these observations generally suffer from a lack of spatial resolution, which limits our ability to characterize their sizes and morphologies. Here we report on a first view of starlight from a subset of the HST-dark population that is bright with JWST/NIRCam (4.4 μ m < 24.5 mag) and very faint or even invisible with HST (<1.6 μ m). In this Letter we focus on a dramatic and unanticipated population of physically extended galaxies (≳0.″25). These 12 galaxies have photometric redshifts 2 < z < 6, high stellar masses M _⋆ ≳ 10 ^10 M _⊙ , and significant dust-attenuated star formation. Surprisingly, the galaxies have elongated projected axis ratios at 4.4 μ m, suggesting that the population is disk dominated or prolate and we hence refer to them as ultrared flattened objects. Most of the galaxies appear red at all radii, suggesting significant dust attenuation throughout. With R _e (F444W) ∼ 1–2 kpc, the galaxies are similar in size to compact massive galaxies at z ∼ 2 and the cores of massive galaxies and S0s at z ∼ 0. The stellar masses, sizes, and morphologies of the sample suggest that some could be progenitors of lenticular or fast-rotating galaxies in the local universe. The existence of this population suggests that our previous censuses of the universe may have missed massive, dusty edge-on disks, in addition to dust-obscured starbursts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:01:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f79627debdfb47a4be8d77a553ee68f0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:01:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-f79627debdfb47a4be8d77a553ee68f02023-09-03T11:39:31ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019482L1810.3847/2041-8213/acc1e1JWST Reveals a Population of Ultrared, Flattened Galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 Previously Missed by HSTErica J. Nelson0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7524-374XKatherine A. Suess1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1714-1905Rachel Bezanson2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5063-8254Sedona H. Price3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0108-4176Pieter van Dokkum4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8282-9888Joel Leja5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6755-1315Bingjie Wang6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9269-5046Katherine E. Whitaker7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7160-3632Ivo Labbé8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2057-5376Laia Barrufet9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1641-6185Gabriel Brammer10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2680-005XDaniel J. Eisenstein11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2929-3121Justus Gibson12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1903-9813Abigail I. Hartley13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5891-1603Benjamin D. Johnson14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9280-7594Kasper E. Heintz15https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9389-7413Elijah Mathews16https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0384-0681Tim B. Miller17https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8367-6265Pascal A. Oesch18https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5851-6649Lester Sandles19https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9276-7062David J. Setton20https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4075-7393Joshua S. Speagle21https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2573-9832Sandro Tacchella22https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8224-4505Ken-ichi Tadaki23https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9728-8909Hannah Übler24https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4891-0794John. R. Weaver25https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1614-196XDepartment for Astrophysical and Planetary Science, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; erica.june.nelson@colorado.eduDepartment of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and Department of Physics, Stanford University , Stanford, CA 94305, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USAMax-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) , Giessenbachstr. 1, D-85748 Garching, GermanyAstronomy Department, Yale University , 52 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511, USADepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational & Data Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USADepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational & Data Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , DenmarkCentre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , Melbourne, VIC 3122, AustraliaDepartment of Astronomy, University of Geneva , Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, SwitzerlandCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, Kø benhavn N, DK-2200, DenmarkCenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USADepartment for Astrophysical and Planetary Science, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; erica.june.nelson@colorado.eduDepartment for Astrophysical and Planetary Science, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; erica.june.nelson@colorado.eduCenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USACosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, Kø benhavn N, DK-2200, DenmarkDepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational & Data Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USAAstronomy Department, Yale University , 52 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Geneva , Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, Kø benhavn N, DK-2200, DenmarkKavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UKDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USADavid A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St George Street, Toronto ON M5S 3H4, Canada; Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada; Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto , 100 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, CanadaKavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UKNational Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, JapanKavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UKDepartment of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USAWith just a month of data, JWST is already transforming our view of the universe, revealing and resolving starlight in unprecedented populations of galaxies. Although “HST-dark” galaxies have previously been detected at long wavelengths, these observations generally suffer from a lack of spatial resolution, which limits our ability to characterize their sizes and morphologies. Here we report on a first view of starlight from a subset of the HST-dark population that is bright with JWST/NIRCam (4.4 μ m < 24.5 mag) and very faint or even invisible with HST (<1.6 μ m). In this Letter we focus on a dramatic and unanticipated population of physically extended galaxies (≳0.″25). These 12 galaxies have photometric redshifts 2 < z < 6, high stellar masses M _⋆ ≳ 10 ^10 M _⊙ , and significant dust-attenuated star formation. Surprisingly, the galaxies have elongated projected axis ratios at 4.4 μ m, suggesting that the population is disk dominated or prolate and we hence refer to them as ultrared flattened objects. Most of the galaxies appear red at all radii, suggesting significant dust attenuation throughout. With R _e (F444W) ∼ 1–2 kpc, the galaxies are similar in size to compact massive galaxies at z ∼ 2 and the cores of massive galaxies and S0s at z ∼ 0. The stellar masses, sizes, and morphologies of the sample suggest that some could be progenitors of lenticular or fast-rotating galaxies in the local universe. The existence of this population suggests that our previous censuses of the universe may have missed massive, dusty edge-on disks, in addition to dust-obscured starbursts.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acc1e1Galaxy evolutionGalaxy structureGalaxy formation |
| spellingShingle | Erica J. Nelson Katherine A. Suess Rachel Bezanson Sedona H. Price Pieter van Dokkum Joel Leja Bingjie Wang Katherine E. Whitaker Ivo Labbé Laia Barrufet Gabriel Brammer Daniel J. Eisenstein Justus Gibson Abigail I. Hartley Benjamin D. Johnson Kasper E. Heintz Elijah Mathews Tim B. Miller Pascal A. Oesch Lester Sandles David J. Setton Joshua S. Speagle Sandro Tacchella Ken-ichi Tadaki Hannah Übler John. R. Weaver JWST Reveals a Population of Ultrared, Flattened Galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 Previously Missed by HST The Astrophysical Journal Letters Galaxy evolution Galaxy structure Galaxy formation |
| title | JWST Reveals a Population of Ultrared, Flattened Galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 Previously Missed by HST |
| title_full | JWST Reveals a Population of Ultrared, Flattened Galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 Previously Missed by HST |
| title_fullStr | JWST Reveals a Population of Ultrared, Flattened Galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 Previously Missed by HST |
| title_full_unstemmed | JWST Reveals a Population of Ultrared, Flattened Galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 Previously Missed by HST |
| title_short | JWST Reveals a Population of Ultrared, Flattened Galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 Previously Missed by HST |
| title_sort | jwst reveals a population of ultrared flattened galaxies at 2 ≲ z ≲ 6 previously missed by hst |
| topic | Galaxy evolution Galaxy structure Galaxy formation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acc1e1 |
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