Quiescent or dusty? Unveiling the nature of extremely red galaxies at $z>3$
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| author | Barrufet, L. Oesch, P. Marques-Chaves, R. Arellano-Cordova, K. Baggen, J. F. W. Carnall, A. C. Cullen, F. Dunlop, J. S. Gottumukkala, R. Fudamoto, Y. Illingworth, G. D. Magee, D. McLure, R. J. McLeod, D. J. Michałowski, M. J. Stefanon, M. van Dokkum, P. G. Weibel, A. |
| author_facet | Barrufet, L. Oesch, P. Marques-Chaves, R. Arellano-Cordova, K. Baggen, J. F. W. Carnall, A. C. Cullen, F. Dunlop, J. S. Gottumukkala, R. Fudamoto, Y. Illingworth, G. D. Magee, D. McLure, R. J. McLeod, D. J. Michałowski, M. J. Stefanon, M. van Dokkum, P. G. Weibel, A. |
| contents | The advent of the JWST has revolutionised our understanding of high-redshift galaxies. In particular, the NIRCam instrument on-board JWST has revealed a population of Hubble Space Telescope (HST)-dark galaxies that had previously evaded optical detection, potentially due to significant dust obscuration, quiescence, or simply extreme redshift. Here, we present the first NIRSpec spectra of 23 HST-dark galaxies ($\mathrm{H-F444W>1.75}$), unveiling their nature and physical properties. This sample includes both dusty and quiescent galaxies with spectroscopic data from NIRSpec/PRISM, providing accurate spectroscopic redshifts with $\mathrm{\overline{z}_{spec} = 4.1 \pm 0.7}$. The spectral features demonstrate that, while the majority of HST-dark galaxies are dusty, a substantial fraction, $\mathrm{13^{+9}_{-6} \%}$, are quiescent. For the dusty galaxies, we have quantified the dust attenuation using the Balmer decrement ($\mathrm{Hα/ Hβ}$), finding attenuations $\mathrm{A_{V} > 2\ mag}$. We find that HST-dark dusty galaxies are $\mathrm{Hα}$ emitters with equivalent widths spanning the range $\mathrm{ 68 A < EW_{Hα} < 550 A }$, indicative of a wide range of recent star-formation activity. Whether dusty or quiescent, we find that HST-dark galaxies are predominantly massive, with 85\% of the galaxies in the sample having masses $\mathrm{log(M_{*}/M_{\odot}) > 9.8}$. This pilot NIRSpec program reveals the diverse nature of HST-dark galaxies and highlights the effectiveness of NIRSpec/PRISM spectroscopic follow-up in distinguishing between dusty and quiescent galaxies and properly quantifying their physical properties. Upcoming research utilising higher-resolution NIRSpec data and combining JWST with ALMA observations will enhance our understanding of these enigmatic and challenging sources. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_08052 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Quiescent or dusty? Unveiling the nature of extremely red galaxies at $z>3$ Barrufet, L. Oesch, P. Marques-Chaves, R. Arellano-Cordova, K. Baggen, J. F. W. Carnall, A. C. Cullen, F. Dunlop, J. S. Gottumukkala, R. Fudamoto, Y. Illingworth, G. D. Magee, D. McLure, R. J. McLeod, D. J. Michałowski, M. J. Stefanon, M. van Dokkum, P. G. Weibel, A. Astrophysics of Galaxies The advent of the JWST has revolutionised our understanding of high-redshift galaxies. In particular, the NIRCam instrument on-board JWST has revealed a population of Hubble Space Telescope (HST)-dark galaxies that had previously evaded optical detection, potentially due to significant dust obscuration, quiescence, or simply extreme redshift. Here, we present the first NIRSpec spectra of 23 HST-dark galaxies ($\mathrm{H-F444W>1.75}$), unveiling their nature and physical properties. This sample includes both dusty and quiescent galaxies with spectroscopic data from NIRSpec/PRISM, providing accurate spectroscopic redshifts with $\mathrm{\overline{z}_{spec} = 4.1 \pm 0.7}$. The spectral features demonstrate that, while the majority of HST-dark galaxies are dusty, a substantial fraction, $\mathrm{13^{+9}_{-6} \%}$, are quiescent. For the dusty galaxies, we have quantified the dust attenuation using the Balmer decrement ($\mathrm{Hα/ Hβ}$), finding attenuations $\mathrm{A_{V} > 2\ mag}$. We find that HST-dark dusty galaxies are $\mathrm{Hα}$ emitters with equivalent widths spanning the range $\mathrm{ 68 A < EW_{Hα} < 550 A }$, indicative of a wide range of recent star-formation activity. Whether dusty or quiescent, we find that HST-dark galaxies are predominantly massive, with 85\% of the galaxies in the sample having masses $\mathrm{log(M_{*}/M_{\odot}) > 9.8}$. This pilot NIRSpec program reveals the diverse nature of HST-dark galaxies and highlights the effectiveness of NIRSpec/PRISM spectroscopic follow-up in distinguishing between dusty and quiescent galaxies and properly quantifying their physical properties. Upcoming research utilising higher-resolution NIRSpec data and combining JWST with ALMA observations will enhance our understanding of these enigmatic and challenging sources. |
| title | Quiescent or dusty? Unveiling the nature of extremely red galaxies at $z>3$ |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.08052 |