GA-NIFS: A smouldering disk galaxy undergoing ordered rotation at z=4.26

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Main Authors: Jones, Gareth C., Maiolino, Roberto, D'Eugenio, Francesco, Arribas, Santiago, Bunker, Andrew J., Charlot, Stephane, Perna, Michele, del Pino, Bruno Rodriguez, Übler, Hannah, Böker, Torsten, Cresci, Giovanni, Lamperti, Isabella, Parlanti, Eleonora, Pascalau, Robert, Scholtz, Jan, Zamora, Sandra
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Jones, Gareth C.
Maiolino, Roberto
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Arribas, Santiago
Bunker, Andrew J.
Charlot, Stephane
Perna, Michele
del Pino, Bruno Rodriguez
Übler, Hannah
Böker, Torsten
Cresci, Giovanni
Lamperti, Isabella
Parlanti, Eleonora
Pascalau, Robert
Scholtz, Jan
Zamora, Sandra
author_facet Jones, Gareth C.
Maiolino, Roberto
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Arribas, Santiago
Bunker, Andrew J.
Charlot, Stephane
Perna, Michele
del Pino, Bruno Rodriguez
Übler, Hannah
Böker, Torsten
Cresci, Giovanni
Lamperti, Isabella
Parlanti, Eleonora
Pascalau, Robert
Scholtz, Jan
Zamora, Sandra
contents Rotating galaxies with relaxed gaseous disks have been discovered across cosmic time, from the local Universe to high redshift (z>4). But few such sources have been confirmed at z>4, making them a precious sample to examine what conditions result in such ordered kinematics in an early, more chaotic Universe. One of the best examples of this sample is the galaxy DLA0817g1 (z=4.2603), which shows remarkably clear rotation in ALMA [CII] data. We present recent JWST/NIRSpec IFU data (R~2700) of DLA0817g1, which we combine with archival ALMA [CII] observations to place constraints on its ISM conditions and morpho-kinematics. From a combination of line ratios, we find a high gas-phase metallicity (~0.7 solar), high fraction of obscured star formation, low ionisation (compared to other high-redshift galaxies observed with JWST), and no significant evidence for AGN (based on the WHAN diagnostic). Dynamical modelling with 3DBarolo reveal nearly identical rotation in Halpha and [CII], but with a higher velocity dispersion in the former. Using our metallicity estimate and previous CO and [CII] detections, we derive a new estimate of the molecular gas mass, relieving a previous strain in the mass budget. Altogether, we suggest that this is a 'smouldering' galaxy, where past star formation resulted in significant chemical enrichment (i.e., Zgas and Mdust), but the current activity is low (i.e., lower ionisation parameter and electron temperature). These new observations have opened a window into questions regarding the interplay of gas, metallicity, star formation, and kinematics in a prototypical early disk galaxy.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_05213
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle GA-NIFS: A smouldering disk galaxy undergoing ordered rotation at z=4.26
Jones, Gareth C.
Maiolino, Roberto
D'Eugenio, Francesco
Arribas, Santiago
Bunker, Andrew J.
Charlot, Stephane
Perna, Michele
del Pino, Bruno Rodriguez
Übler, Hannah
Böker, Torsten
Cresci, Giovanni
Lamperti, Isabella
Parlanti, Eleonora
Pascalau, Robert
Scholtz, Jan
Zamora, Sandra
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Rotating galaxies with relaxed gaseous disks have been discovered across cosmic time, from the local Universe to high redshift (z>4). But few such sources have been confirmed at z>4, making them a precious sample to examine what conditions result in such ordered kinematics in an early, more chaotic Universe. One of the best examples of this sample is the galaxy DLA0817g1 (z=4.2603), which shows remarkably clear rotation in ALMA [CII] data. We present recent JWST/NIRSpec IFU data (R~2700) of DLA0817g1, which we combine with archival ALMA [CII] observations to place constraints on its ISM conditions and morpho-kinematics. From a combination of line ratios, we find a high gas-phase metallicity (~0.7 solar), high fraction of obscured star formation, low ionisation (compared to other high-redshift galaxies observed with JWST), and no significant evidence for AGN (based on the WHAN diagnostic). Dynamical modelling with 3DBarolo reveal nearly identical rotation in Halpha and [CII], but with a higher velocity dispersion in the former. Using our metallicity estimate and previous CO and [CII] detections, we derive a new estimate of the molecular gas mass, relieving a previous strain in the mass budget. Altogether, we suggest that this is a 'smouldering' galaxy, where past star formation resulted in significant chemical enrichment (i.e., Zgas and Mdust), but the current activity is low (i.e., lower ionisation parameter and electron temperature). These new observations have opened a window into questions regarding the interplay of gas, metallicity, star formation, and kinematics in a prototypical early disk galaxy.
title GA-NIFS: A smouldering disk galaxy undergoing ordered rotation at z=4.26
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.05213