Star Formation and AGN Activity 500 Myr after the Big Bang: Insights from JWST

Jordan C. J. D’Silva; Simon P. Driver; Claudia D. P. Lagos; Aaron S. G. Robotham; Jake Summers; Rogier A. Windhorst

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad103e

The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)

Star Formation and AGN Activity 500 Myr after the Big Bang: Insights from JWST

Jordan C. J. D’Silva,
Simon P. Driver,
Claudia D. P. Lagos,
Aaron S. G. Robotham,
Jake Summers,
Rogier A. Windhorst

Affiliations

Jordan C. J. D’Silva: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the International Space Centre (ISC), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D): CE170100013. , Australia
Simon P. Driver: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the International Space Centre (ISC), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
Claudia D. P. Lagos: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the International Space Centre (ISC), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D): CE170100013. , Australia
Aaron S. G. Robotham: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the International Space Centre (ISC), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
Jake Summers: ORCiD; School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA
Rogier A. Windhorst: ORCiD; School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad103e
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 959, no. 2
p. L18

Abstract

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We consider the effect of including an active galactic nuclei (AGN) component when fitting spectral energy distributions of 109 spectroscopically confirmed z ≈ 3.5–12.5 galaxies with JWST. Remarkably, we find that the resulting cosmic star formation history is ≈0.4 dex lower at z ≳ 9.5 when an AGN component is included in the fitting. This alleviates previously reported excess star formation at z ≳ 9.5 compared to models based on typical baryon conversion efficiencies inside dark matter halos. We find that the individual stellar masses and star formation rates can be as much as ≈4 dex lower when fitting with an AGN component. These results highlight the importance of considering both stellar mass assembly and supermassive black hole growth when interpreting the light distributions of among the first galaxies to ever exist.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

ISSN: 2041-8205 (Print); 2041-8213 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205

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