Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)
We present spatially resolved analysis of stellar populations in the brightest z>6z>6 galaxy known to date (AB mag 23), the strongly lensed MACS0308-zD1 (dubbed the ``Cosmic Spear'') at zspec=6.2z_{\rm spec}=6.2. New JWST NIRCam imaging and high-resolution NIRSpec IFU spectroscopy span the rest-frame ultraviolet to optical. The NIRCam imaging reveals bright star-forming clumps and a tail consisting of three distinct, extremely compact star clusters that are multiply-imaged by gravitational lensing. The star clusters have effective radii of Reff5R_{\rm{eff}} \sim 5 pc, stellar masses of M106107MM_{*} \sim 10^{6}-10^{7}\,M_{\odot}, and high stellar mass surface densities of Σ>104M pc2\Sigma_{*} > 10^{4}\,M_{\odot}~\rm{pc}^{-2}. While their stellar populations are very young (59\sim 5-9 Myr), their dynamical ages exceed unity, consistent with the clusters being gravitationally bound systems. Placing the star clusters in the size vs.~stellar mass density plane, we find they occupy a region similar to other high-redshift star clusters within galaxies observed recently with JWST, being significantly more massive and denser than local star clusters. Spatially resolved analysis of the brightest clump reveals a compact, intensely star-forming core. The ionizing photon production efficiency (ξion\xi_{\rm{ion}}) is slightly suppressed in this central region, potentially indicating a locally elevated Lyman continuum escape fraction facilitated by feedback-driven channels.
El Gordo (ACT-CL J0102-4915) is a massive galaxy cluster with two major mass components at redshift z=0.87z=0.87. Using SED fitting results from JWST/NIRCam photometry, the fraction of quenched galaxies in this cluster was measured in two bins of stellar mass: 9<\log{({M_*}/\mathrm{M}_{\odot})}<10 and 10\leq\log{({M_*}/\mathrm{M}_{\odot})}<12. While there is no correlation between the quenched fraction and angular separation from the cluster's overall center of mass, there is a correlation between the quenched fraction and angular separation from the center of the nearest of the two mass components for the less-massive galaxies. This suggests that environmental quenching processes are in place at z1z\sim1, and that dwarf galaxies are more affected by those processes than massive galaxies.
A Type Ia supernova (SN) at z=1.78z=1.78 was discovered in James Webb Space Telescope Near Infrared Camera imaging of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0 (G165; z=0.35z = 0.35). The SN is situated 1.5-2 kpc from the host-galaxy nucleus and appears in three different locations as a result of gravitational lensing by G165. These data can yield a value for Hubble's constant using time delays from this multiply-imaged SN Ia that we call "SN H0pe." Over the cluster, we identified 21 image multiplicities, confirmed five of them using the Near-Infrared Spectrograph, and constructed a new lens model that gives a total mass within 600 kpc of (2.6±0.3)×10142.6 \pm 0.3) \times 10^{14} MM_{\odot}. The photometry uncovered a galaxy overdensity coincident with the SN host galaxy. NIRSpec confirmed six member galaxies, four of which surround the SN host galaxy with relative velocity \lesssim900 km s1^{-1} and projected physical extent \lesssim33 kpc. This compact galaxy group is dominated by the SN host galaxy, which has a stellar mass of (5.0±0.1)×1011(5.0 \pm 0.1) \times 10^{11} MM_{\odot}. The group members have specific star-formation rates of 2-260 Gyr1^{-1} derived from the Hα\alpha-line fluxes corrected for stellar absorption, dust extinction, and slit losses. Another group centered on a strongly-lensed dusty star forming galaxy is at z=2.24z=2.24. The total (unobscured and obscured) SFR of this second galaxy group is estimated to be (\gtrsim100 MM_{\odot} yr1^{-1}), which translates to a supernova rate of \sim1 SNe yr1^{-1}, suggesting that regular monitoring of this cluster may yield additional SNe.
The combination of the z=013.5z=0-13.5 cosmic star formation history and active galactic nuclei (AGN) luminosity history as inferred by the James Webb Space Telescope is connected to the cosmic spectral energy distribution (CSED) to explore the sources of reionisation. We compute the redshift evolution of the corresponding cosmic ionising photon emissivity, the neutral fraction and the cosmic microwave background optical depth. We use the generative SED modelling code ProSpect to bracket the ionising emissivity between escape fractions of fesc=1100%f_{\mathrm{esc}} = 1 - 100\% for both the stars and AGN. Stars alone could have achieved reionisation by z6z\approx 6 with fesc30%f_{\mathrm{esc}} \gtrsim 30\% for solar metallicity (Z=0.02Z=0.02) stars or fesc10%f_{\mathrm{esc}} \gtrsim 10\% for metal-poor (Z=104Z=10^{-4}) stars. On the other hand, AGN by themselves would have struggled to produce sufficiently many ionising photons even with fesc=100%f_{\mathrm{esc}} = 100\%. A hybrid model containing both stars and AGN is explored where we find best fit (median±1σ\pm 1\sigma) fesc=f_{\mathrm{esc}}= 12%12\% (147+9%14^{+9}_{-7}\%) for the stars and fesc=f_{\mathrm{esc}}= 63%63\% (6032+28%60^{+28}_{-32}\%) for the AGN, maintained at all redshifts. In essence, the joint growth of stellar mass and supermassive black holes produces neither more nor fewer ionising photons than needed to reionise 99%\gtrsim 99\% of the intergalactic medium by z6z\approx 6.
JWST spectroscopy has revolutionized our understanding of galaxies in the early universe. Covering wavelengths up to 5.3μm5.3\,{\rm \mu m}, NIRSpec can detect rest-frame optical emission lines Hα\alpha out to z=7z = 7 and [O III] to z=9.5z = 9.5. Observing these lines in more distant galaxies requires longer wavelength spectroscopy with MIRI. Here we present MIRI MRS IFU observations of the lensed galaxy merger MACS0647-JD at z=10.165z = 10.165. With exposure times of 4.2 hours in each of two bands, we detect Hα\alpha at 9σ9\sigma, [O III]λ5008\,\lambda5008 at 11σ11\sigma, and [O III]λ4960\,\lambda4960 at 3σ3\sigma. Combined with previously reported NIRSpec spectroscopy that yields seven emission lines including the auroral line [O III]λ4363\,\lambda4363, we present the first direct metallicity measurement of a z>10z > 10 galaxy: 12+log(O/H)=7.79±0.0912+{\rm log(O/H)}= 7.79\pm0.09, or 0.130.03+0.02Z0.13^{+0.02}_{-0.03}\,Z_{\odot}. This is similar to galaxies at z49z \sim 4 - 9 with direct metallicity measurements, though higher than expected given the high specific star formation rate log(sSFR/yr1)=7.4±0.3{\rm log(sSFR / yr^{-1})} = -7.4 \pm 0.3. We further constrain the ionization parameter log(U){\rm log}(U) = 1.9±0.1-1.9 \pm 0.1, ionizing photon production efficiency log(ξion){\rm log}(\xi_{\rm ion}) = 25.3±0.125.3\pm0.1, and star formation rate 5.0±0.6M/yr5.0\pm0.6\,M_{\odot}/{\rm yr} within the past 10Myr10\,{\rm Myr}. These observations demonstrate the combined power of JWST NIRSpec and MIRI for studying galaxies in the first 500500 million years.
The worlds of Data Science (including big and/or federated data, machine learning, etc) and Astrophysics started merging almost two decades ago. For instance, around 2005, international initiatives such as the Virtual Observatory framework rose to standardize the way we publish and transfer data, enabling new tools such as VOSA (SED Virtual Observatory Analyzer) to come to existence and remain relevant today. More recently, new facilities like the Vera Rubin Observatory, serve as motivation to develop efficient and extremely fast (very often deep learning based) methodologies in order to fully exploit the informational content of the vast Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) dataset. However, fundamental changes in the way we explore and analyze data cannot permeate in the "astrophysical sociology and idiosyncrasy" without adequate training. In this talk, I will focus on one specific initiative that has been extremely successful and is based on "learning by doing": the La Serena School for Data Science. I will also briefly touch on a different successful approach: a series of schools organized by the Spanish Virtual Observatory. The common denominator among the two kinds of schools is to present the students with real scientific problems that benefit from the concepts / methodologies taught. On the other hand, the demographics targeted by both initiatives vary significantly and can represent examples of two "flavours" to be followed by others.
We present JWST/NIRSpec high-resolution spectroscopy G395H/F290LP of MACS0647-JD, a gravitationally lensed galaxy merger at z=10.167z=10.167. The new spectroscopy, which is acquired for the two lensed images (JD1 and JD2), detects and resolves emission lines in the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) and blue optical, including the resolved [OII]3726,3729 doublet, [NeIII]3870, [HeI]3890, Hδ\delta, Hγ\gamma, and [OIII]4363. This is the first observation of the resolved [OII]3726,3729 doublet for a galaxy at z>8z>8. We measure a line flux ratio [OII]3729/3726 =0.9±0.3= 0.9 \pm 0.3, which corresponds to an estimated electron density of log(ne/cm3)=2.9±0.5\log(n_{e} / \rm{cm}^{-3}) = 2.9 \pm 0.5. This is significantly higher than the electron densities of local galaxies reported in the literature. We compile the measurements from the literature and further analyze the redshift evolution of nen_{e}. We find that the redshift evolution follows the power-law form of ne=A×(1+z)pn_{e} = A\times (1+z)^{p} with A=5423+31A=54^{+31}_{-23} cm3^{-3} and p=1.20.4+0.4p=1.2^{+0.4}_{-0.4}. This power-law form may be explained by a combination of metallicity and morphological evolution of galaxies, which become, on average, more metal-poor and more compact with increasing redshift.
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