NGDEEP Epoch 1: Spatially Resolved Hα Observations of Disk and Bulge Growth in Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 0.6–2.2 from JWST NIRISS Slitless Spectroscopy

Lu Shen; Casey Papovich; Jasleen Matharu; Nor Pirzkal; Weida Hu; Bren E. Backhaus; Micaela B. Bagley; Yingjie Cheng; Nikko J. Cleri; Steven L. Finkelstein; Marc Huertas-Company; Mauro Giavalisco; Norman A. Grogin; Intae Jung; Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe; Anton M. Koekemoer; Jennifer M. Lotz; Michael V. Maseda; Pablo G. Pérez-González; Barry Rothberg; Raymond C. Simons; Sandro Tacchella; Christina C. Williams; L. Y. Aaron Yung

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad28bd

The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2024)

NGDEEP Epoch 1: Spatially Resolved Hα Observations of Disk and Bulge Growth in Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 0.6–2.2 from JWST NIRISS Slitless Spectroscopy

Lu Shen,
Casey Papovich,
Jasleen Matharu,
Nor Pirzkal,
Weida Hu,
Bren E. Backhaus,
Micaela B. Bagley,
Yingjie Cheng,
Nikko J. Cleri,
Steven L. Finkelstein,
Marc Huertas-Company,
Mauro Giavalisco,
Norman A. Grogin,
Intae Jung,
Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe,
Anton M. Koekemoer,
Jennifer M. Lotz,
Michael V. Maseda,
Pablo G. Pérez-González,
Barry Rothberg,
Raymond C. Simons,
Sandro Tacchella,
Christina C. Williams,
L. Y. Aaron Yung

Affiliations

Lu Shen: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA ; [email protected]; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Casey Papovich: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA ; [email protected]; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Jasleen Matharu: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Nor Pirzkal: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Weida Hu: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA ; [email protected]; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Bren E. Backhaus: ORCiD; Department of Physics, 196 Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Micaela B. Bagley: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
Yingjie Cheng: ORCiD; University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
Nikko J. Cleri: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA ; [email protected]; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Steven L. Finkelstein: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
Marc Huertas-Company: ORCiD; Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Universidad de la Laguna , La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Université Paris-Cité , LERMA—Observatoire de Paris, PSL, Paris, France
Mauro Giavalisco: ORCiD; University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
Norman A. Grogin: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Intae Jung: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
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 , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Jennifer M. Lotz: ORCiD; Gemini Observatory/NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
Michael V. Maseda: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison , 475 N. Charter St., Madison, WI 53706, USA
Pablo G. Pérez-González: ORCiD; Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850, Madrid, Spain
Barry Rothberg: ORCiD; U.S. Naval Observatory , 3450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20392, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, George Mason University , 4400 University Drive, MSN 3F3, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
Raymond C. Simons: ORCiD; Department of Physics, 196 Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Sandro Tacchella: ORCiD; Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
Christina C. Williams: ORCiD; NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
L. Y. Aaron Yung: ORCiD; Astrophysics Science Division , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad28bd
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 963, no. 2
p. L49

Abstract

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We study the H α equivalent width (EW(H α )) maps of 19 galaxies at 0.6 < z < 2.2 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field using NIRISS slitless spectroscopy as part of the Next Generation Deep Extragalactic Exploratory Public Survey. Our galaxies mostly lie on the star formation main sequence with stellar masses between 10 ^9 and 10 ^11 M _⊙ , characterized as “typical” star-forming galaxies at these redshifts. Leveraging deep Hubble Space Telescope and JWST images, spanning 0.4–4.8 μ m, we perform spatially resolved fitting of the spectral energy distributions for these galaxies and construct specific star formation rate (sSFR) and stellar-mass-weighted age maps with a spatial resolution of ∼1 kpc. The pixel-to-pixel EW(H α ) increases with increasing sSFR and with decreasing age. The average trends are slightly different from the relations derived from integrated fluxes of galaxies from the literature, suggesting complex evolutionary trends within galaxies. We quantify the radial profiles of EW(H α ), sSFR, and age. The majority (84%) of galaxies show positive EW(H α ) gradients, in line with the inside-out quenching scenario. A few galaxies (16%) show inverse (and flat) EW(H α ) gradients, possibly due to merging or starbursts. We compare the distributions of EW(H α ) and sSFR to star formation history (SFH) models as a function of galactocentric radius. We argue that the central regions of galaxies have experienced at least one rapid star formation episode, which leads to the formation of the bulge, while their outer regions (e.g., disks) grow via more smoothly varying SFHs. These results demonstrate the ability to study resolved star formation in distant galaxies with JWST NIRISS.

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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