The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2025)
CAPERS Observations of Two UV-bright Galaxies at z > 10. More Evidence for Bursting Star Formation in the Early Universe
- Vasily Kokorev,
- Óscar A. Chávez Ortiz,
- Anthony J. Taylor,
- Steven L. Finkelstein,
- Pablo Arrabal Haro,
- Mark Dickinson,
- John Chisholm,
- Seiji Fujimoto,
- Julian B. Mu noz,
- Ryan Endsley,
- Weida Hu,
- Lorenzo Napolitano,
- Stephen M. Wilkins,
- Hollis B. Akins,
- Ricardo Amoriín,
- Caitlin M. Casey,
- Yingjie Cheng,
- Nikko J. Cleri,
- Justin Cole,
- Fergus Cullen,
- Emanuele Daddi,
- Kelcey Davis,
- Callum T. Donnan,
- James S. Dunlop,
- Vital Fernández,
- Mauro Giavalisco,
- Norman A. Grogin,
- Nimish Hathi,
- Michaela Hirschmann,
- Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Ho-Hin Leung,
- Ray A. Lucas,
- Derek McLeod,
- Casey Papovich,
- Laura Pentericci,
- Pablo G. Pérez-González,
- Rachel S. Somerville,
- Xin Wang,
- L. Y. Aaron Yung,
- Jorge A. Zavala
Affiliations
- Vasily Kokorev
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Óscar A. Chávez Ortiz
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Anthony J. Taylor
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Steven L. Finkelstein
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Pablo Arrabal Haro
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Mark Dickinson
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- John Chisholm
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Seiji Fujimoto
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Julian B. Mu noz
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Ryan Endsley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Weida Hu
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- Lorenzo Napolitano
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, 00078 Monteporzio Catone, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Sapienza , Città Universitaria di Roma - Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 2, 00185 Roma, Italy
- Stephen M. Wilkins
- ORCiD
- Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex , Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK; Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy, University of Malta , Msida MSD 2080, Malta
- Hollis B. Akins
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Ricardo Amoriín
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) , Apartado 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain
- Caitlin M. Casey
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, København N, Copenhagen DK-2200, Denmark
- Yingjie Cheng
- ORCiD
- University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
- Nikko J. Cleri
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Justin Cole
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- Fergus Cullen
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Emanuele Daddi
- ORCiD
- Université Paris-Saclay , Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Kelcey Davis
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Callum T. Donnan
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- James S. Dunlop
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Vital Fernández
- ORCiD
- Michigan Institute for Data Science, University of Michigan , 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Mauro Giavalisco
- ORCiD
- University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
- Norman A. Grogin
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Nimish Hathi
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Michaela Hirschmann
- ORCiD
- Institute of Physics, Laboratory for Galaxy Evolution, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne , Observatoire de Sauverny, Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
- Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe
- ORCiD
- Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology , 84 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Ho-Hin Leung
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Ray A. Lucas
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Derek McLeod
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Casey Papovich
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- Laura Pentericci
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, 00078 Monteporzio Catone, Italy
- Pablo G. Pérez-González
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850 Madrid, Spain
- Rachel S. Somerville
- ORCiD
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
- Xin Wang
- ORCiD
- School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) , Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China; National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; Institute for Frontiers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University , Beijing 102206, People’s Republic of China
- L. Y. Aaron Yung
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Jorge A. Zavala
- ORCiD
- University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ade8f5
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 988,
no. 1
p. L10
Abstract
We present the first results from the CANDELS-Area Prism Epoch of Reionization Survey (CAPERS), utilizing PRISM observations with the JWST/NIRSpec microshutter assembly in the PRIMER-UDS field. With just 14% of the total planned data volume, we spectroscopically confirm two new bright galaxies ( M _UV ∼ −20.4) at redshifts z = 10.562 ± 0.034 and z = 11.013 ± 0.028. We examine their physical properties, morphologies, and star formation histories, finding evidence for recent bursting star formation in at least one galaxy thanks to the detection of strong rest-frame equivalent width (EW _0 ∼ 70 Å) H γ emission. Combining our findings with previous studies of similarly bright objects at high z , we further assess the role of stochastic star formation processes in shaping early galaxy populations. Our analysis finds that the majority of bright ( M _UV ≲ −20) spectroscopically confirmed galaxies at z > 10 were likely observed during a starburst episode, characterized by a median star formation rate (SFR) ratio of SFR _10 /SFR _100 ∼ 2, although with substantial scatter of 0.24 dex. Our work also finds tentative evidence that z > 10 galaxies are more preferentially in a bursting phase than similarly bright z ∼ 6 galaxies. We finally discuss the prospects of deeper spectroscopic observations of a statistically significant number of bright galaxies to quantify the true impact of bursting star formation on the evolution of the bright end of the UV luminosity function at these early epochs.
Keywords
