To be, or not to be: Balmer breaks in high-z galaxies with JWST

To be, or not to be : Balmer breaks in high-z galaxies with JWST

Vikaeus, Anton (author): Uppsala universitet,Institutionen för fysik och astronomi

Zackrisson, Erik (author): Uppsala universitet,Institutionen för fysik och astronomi,Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy, University of Malta , Msida MSD 2080 , Malta

Wilkins, Stephen (author)

Nabizadeh, Armin (author): Uppsala universitet,Institutionen för fysik och astronomi

Kokorev, Vasily (author)

Bradley, Larry D. (author)

Coe, Dan (author): Uppsala universitet,Kollegiet för avancerade studier (SCAS),Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) , Inc. for the European Space Agency (ESA), STScI, Baltimore, MD 21218 , USA;Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, 20742 , USA

Dayal, Pratika (author)

Ricotti, Massimo (author)

(creator_code:org_t)

Oxford University Press, 2024
2024
English.
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 529:2, s. 1299-1307

Related links:: https://doi.org/10.1...; show more...; https://doi.org/10.4...; https://uu.diva-port... (primary) (Raw object); https://urn.kb.se/re...; https://doi.org/10.1...; show less...

Abstract Subject headings

Standard models of structure formation allow us to predict the cosmic timescales relevant for the onset of star formation and the assembly history of galaxies at high redshifts (z > 10). The strength of the Balmer break represents a well-known diagnostic of the age and star formation history of galaxies, which enables us to compare observations with contemporary simulations – thus shedding light on the predictive power of our current models of star formation in the early Universe. Here, we measure the Balmer break strength for 23 spectroscopically confirmed galaxies at redshifts 6 ≲ z ≲ 12 using public JWST NIRSpec data from the cycle 1 GO 1433 and GO 2282 programmes (PI Coe), as well as public spectroscopic data from the JWST Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). We find that the range of observed Balmer break strengths agree well with that of current simulations given our measurement uncertainties. No cases of anomalously strong Balmer breaks are detected, and therefore no severe departures from the predictions of contemporary models of star formation. However, there are indications of a number of outliers in the observed distribution which have weaker Balmer breaks than predicted by simulations.

By the author/editor: Vikaeus, Anton; Zackrisson, Erik; Wilkins, Stephen; Nabizadeh, Armin; Kokorev, Vasily; Bradley, Larry D ...; show more...; Coe, Dan; Dayal, Pratika; Ricotti, Massimo; show less...

About the subject

NATURAL SCIENCES: NATURAL SCIENCES; and Physical Science ...; and Astronomy Astrop ...

Kungliga biblioteket hanterar dina personuppgifter i enlighet med EU:s dataskyddsförordning (2018), GDPR. Läs mer om hur det funkar här.
Så här hanterar KB dina uppgifter vid användning av denna tjänst.