MAGAZ3NE: Spatially Resolved Ages and Chemical Abundances of Ultra-Massive Quiescent Galaxies at z $\sim$ 3.5 using JWST/NIRSpec IFU
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| author | Edward, Adit H. Antwi-Danso, Jacqueline Muzzin, Adam Forrest, Ben McConachie, Ian Beverage, Aliza Chang, Wenjun Cooper, M. C. Gomez, Percy Hamadouche, Massissilia L. Henry, Aurélien Lei, Han Marchesini, Danilo Noble, Allison Stawinski, Stephanie M. Urbano Wilson, Gillian Wisz, M. E. |
| author_facet | Edward, Adit H. Antwi-Danso, Jacqueline Muzzin, Adam Forrest, Ben McConachie, Ian Beverage, Aliza Chang, Wenjun Cooper, M. C. Gomez, Percy Hamadouche, Massissilia L. Henry, Aurélien Lei, Han Marchesini, Danilo Noble, Allison Stawinski, Stephanie M. Urbano Wilson, Gillian Wisz, M. E. |
| contents | We present spatially-resolved measurements of stellar age, [Fe/H], and [$α$/Fe] in three ultra-massive ($\rm{log(M_{\ast}/M_{\odot})>11}$), compact ($\rm{R_e} \lesssim 2$ kpc) quiescent galaxies at $z\sim3.5$ using JWST/NIRSpec IFU spectroscopy. These observations provide the first spatially-resolved constraints on $α$-enhancement at this epoch, enabling a direct test of quenching mechanisms before late-time assembly processes such as mergers can erase chemical signatures. The central regions of all three galaxies show both uniformly young ages ($\approx0.6-0.7$ Gyr) and elevated [$α$/Fe] ($\approx0.2-0.5$), indicating rapid, enhanced star formation shortly before recent quenching. Beyond the cores, two galaxies display positive age gradients and negative [$α$/Fe] gradients, consistent with rapid merger-driven quenching, while the third shows a flat age profile indicative of uniform quenching. The [Fe/H] gradients are also consistent with these trends, though we note that the metallicities reported by codes using $α$-enhanced models differ significantly ($\approx0.2-0.4$ dex) from those reported using solar-scaled templates. These data demonstrate that quenching pathways are diverse by $z\sim3.5$, with rapid, merger-driven quenching already operating in a subset of massive quiescent galaxies in the first two billion years of cosmic time. Furthermore, these results establish that explicit treatment of $α$-enhancement is essential for interpreting the star-formation histories of the earliest quenched systems. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_27555 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | MAGAZ3NE: Spatially Resolved Ages and Chemical Abundances of Ultra-Massive Quiescent Galaxies at z $\sim$ 3.5 using JWST/NIRSpec IFU Edward, Adit H. Antwi-Danso, Jacqueline Muzzin, Adam Forrest, Ben McConachie, Ian Beverage, Aliza Chang, Wenjun Cooper, M. C. Gomez, Percy Hamadouche, Massissilia L. Henry, Aurélien Lei, Han Marchesini, Danilo Noble, Allison Stawinski, Stephanie M. Urbano Wilson, Gillian Wisz, M. E. Astrophysics of Galaxies We present spatially-resolved measurements of stellar age, [Fe/H], and [$α$/Fe] in three ultra-massive ($\rm{log(M_{\ast}/M_{\odot})>11}$), compact ($\rm{R_e} \lesssim 2$ kpc) quiescent galaxies at $z\sim3.5$ using JWST/NIRSpec IFU spectroscopy. These observations provide the first spatially-resolved constraints on $α$-enhancement at this epoch, enabling a direct test of quenching mechanisms before late-time assembly processes such as mergers can erase chemical signatures. The central regions of all three galaxies show both uniformly young ages ($\approx0.6-0.7$ Gyr) and elevated [$α$/Fe] ($\approx0.2-0.5$), indicating rapid, enhanced star formation shortly before recent quenching. Beyond the cores, two galaxies display positive age gradients and negative [$α$/Fe] gradients, consistent with rapid merger-driven quenching, while the third shows a flat age profile indicative of uniform quenching. The [Fe/H] gradients are also consistent with these trends, though we note that the metallicities reported by codes using $α$-enhanced models differ significantly ($\approx0.2-0.4$ dex) from those reported using solar-scaled templates. These data demonstrate that quenching pathways are diverse by $z\sim3.5$, with rapid, merger-driven quenching already operating in a subset of massive quiescent galaxies in the first two billion years of cosmic time. Furthermore, these results establish that explicit treatment of $α$-enhancement is essential for interpreting the star-formation histories of the earliest quenched systems. |
| title | MAGAZ3NE: Spatially Resolved Ages and Chemical Abundances of Ultra-Massive Quiescent Galaxies at z $\sim$ 3.5 using JWST/NIRSpec IFU |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27555 |