AGN Feedback in Quiescent Galaxies at Cosmic Noon Traced by Ionized Gas Emission

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Bugiani, Letizia, Belli, Sirio, Park, Minjung, Davies, Rebecca L., Mendel, J. Trevor, Johnson, Benjamin D., Khoram, Amir H., Benton, Chloë, Cimatti, Andrea, Conroy, Charlie, Emami, Razieh, Leja, Joel, Li, Yijia, Maheson, Gabriel, Mathews, Elijah P., Naidu, Rohan P., Nelson, Erica J., Tacchella, Sandro, Terrazas, Bryan A., Weinberger, Rainer
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Bugiani, Letizia
Belli, Sirio
Park, Minjung
Davies, Rebecca L.
Mendel, J. Trevor
Johnson, Benjamin D.
Khoram, Amir H.
Benton, Chloë
Cimatti, Andrea
Conroy, Charlie
Emami, Razieh
Leja, Joel
Li, Yijia
Maheson, Gabriel
Mathews, Elijah P.
Naidu, Rohan P.
Nelson, Erica J.
Tacchella, Sandro
Terrazas, Bryan A.
Weinberger, Rainer
author_facet Bugiani, Letizia
Belli, Sirio
Park, Minjung
Davies, Rebecca L.
Mendel, J. Trevor
Johnson, Benjamin D.
Khoram, Amir H.
Benton, Chloë
Cimatti, Andrea
Conroy, Charlie
Emami, Razieh
Leja, Joel
Li, Yijia
Maheson, Gabriel
Mathews, Elijah P.
Naidu, Rohan P.
Nelson, Erica J.
Tacchella, Sandro
Terrazas, Bryan A.
Weinberger, Rainer
contents We analyze ionized gas emission lines in deep rest-frame optical spectra of 16 quiescent galaxies at redshift $1.7<z<3.5$ observed with JWST/NIRSpec by the Blue Jay survey. Robust detection of emission lines in $75\%$ of the sample indicates the presence of ongoing ionizing sources in this passive population. The H$α$ line luminosities confirm that the population is quiescent, with star formation rates that are at least ten times lower than the main sequence of star formation. The quiescent sample is clearly separate from the star-forming population in line diagnostic diagrams, and occupies a region usually populated by active galactic nuclei (AGN). Analysis of the observed line ratios, equivalent widths, and velocity dispersions leads us to conclude that in most cases the gas is ionized by AGN activity, despite the lack of X-ray detections. A subset of the sample also hosts ionized and/or neutral outflows. Our results show, for the first time using a representative sample, that low luminosity AGN are extremely common among quiescent galaxies at high redshift. These low luminosity AGN may play a key role in quenching star formation and in maintaining massive galaxies quiescent from Cosmic Noon to $z\sim0$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_08547
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle AGN Feedback in Quiescent Galaxies at Cosmic Noon Traced by Ionized Gas Emission
Bugiani, Letizia
Belli, Sirio
Park, Minjung
Davies, Rebecca L.
Mendel, J. Trevor
Johnson, Benjamin D.
Khoram, Amir H.
Benton, Chloë
Cimatti, Andrea
Conroy, Charlie
Emami, Razieh
Leja, Joel
Li, Yijia
Maheson, Gabriel
Mathews, Elijah P.
Naidu, Rohan P.
Nelson, Erica J.
Tacchella, Sandro
Terrazas, Bryan A.
Weinberger, Rainer
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We analyze ionized gas emission lines in deep rest-frame optical spectra of 16 quiescent galaxies at redshift $1.7<z<3.5$ observed with JWST/NIRSpec by the Blue Jay survey. Robust detection of emission lines in $75\%$ of the sample indicates the presence of ongoing ionizing sources in this passive population. The H$α$ line luminosities confirm that the population is quiescent, with star formation rates that are at least ten times lower than the main sequence of star formation. The quiescent sample is clearly separate from the star-forming population in line diagnostic diagrams, and occupies a region usually populated by active galactic nuclei (AGN). Analysis of the observed line ratios, equivalent widths, and velocity dispersions leads us to conclude that in most cases the gas is ionized by AGN activity, despite the lack of X-ray detections. A subset of the sample also hosts ionized and/or neutral outflows. Our results show, for the first time using a representative sample, that low luminosity AGN are extremely common among quiescent galaxies at high redshift. These low luminosity AGN may play a key role in quenching star formation and in maintaining massive galaxies quiescent from Cosmic Noon to $z\sim0$.
title AGN Feedback in Quiescent Galaxies at Cosmic Noon Traced by Ionized Gas Emission
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.08547