The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2024)
The Complete CEERS Early Universe Galaxy Sample: A Surprisingly Slow Evolution of the Space Density of Bright Galaxies at z ∼ 8.5–14.5
- Steven L. Finkelstein,
- Gene C. K. Leung,
- Micaela B. Bagley,
- Mark Dickinson,
- Henry C. Ferguson,
- Casey Papovich,
- Hollis B. Akins,
- Pablo Arrabal Haro,
- Romeel Davé,
- Avishai Dekel,
- Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe,
- Dale D. Kocevski,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Nor Pirzkal,
- Rachel S. Somerville,
- L. Y. Aaron Yung,
- Ricardo O. Amorín,
- Bren E. Backhaus,
- Peter Behroozi,
- Laura Bisigello,
- Volker Bromm,
- Caitlin M. Casey,
- Óscar A. Chávez Ortiz,
- Yingjie Cheng,
- Katherine Chworowsky,
- Nikko J. Cleri,
- M. C. Cooper,
- Kelcey Davis,
- Alexander de la Vega,
- David Elbaz,
- Maximilien Franco,
- Adriano Fontana,
- Seiji Fujimoto,
- Mauro Giavalisco,
- Norman A. Grogin,
- Benne W. Holwerda,
- Marc Huertas-Company,
- Michaela Hirschmann,
- Kartheik G. Iyer,
- Shardha Jogee,
- Intae Jung,
- Rebecca L. Larson,
- Ray A. Lucas,
- Bahram Mobasher,
- Alexa M. Morales,
- Caroline V. Morley,
- Sagnick Mukherjee,
- Pablo G. Pérez-González,
- Swara Ravindranath,
- Giulia Rodighiero,
- Melanie J. Rowland,
- Sandro Tacchella,
- Anthony J. Taylor,
- Jonathan R. Trump,
- Stephen M. Wilkins
Affiliations
- Steven L. Finkelstein
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Gene C. K. Leung
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Micaela B. Bagley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Mark Dickinson
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Henry C. Ferguson
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- 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
- Hollis B. Akins
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Pablo Arrabal Haro
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Romeel Davé
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape , Robert Sobukwe Rd, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
- Avishai Dekel
- ORCiD
- Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem 91904, Israel
- 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
- Dale D. Kocevski
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Colby College , Waterville, ME 04901, USA
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Nor Pirzkal
- ORCiD
- ESA/AURA Space Telescope Science Institute , USA
- Rachel S. Somerville
- ORCiD
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
- L. Y. Aaron Yung
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Ricardo O. Amorín
- ORCiD
- ARAID Foundation, Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón (CEFCA), Unidad Asociada al CSIC , Plaza San Juan 1, E–44001 Teruel, Spain; Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de La Serena , Av. Juan Cisternas 1200 Norte, La Serena 1720236, Chile
- Bren E. Backhaus
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196 Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Peter Behroozi
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; Division of Science, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
- Laura Bisigello
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “G.Galilei,” Universitá di Padova , Via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padova, Italy; INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova , Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, I-35122, Padova, Italy
- Volker Bromm
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Caitlin M. Casey
- 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]
- Yingjie Cheng
- ORCiD
- University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
- Katherine Chworowsky
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Nikko J. Cleri
- 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
- M. C. Cooper
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Irvine, 4129 Reines Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Kelcey Davis
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196 Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Alexander de la Vega
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA
- David Elbaz
- ORCiD
- Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité , CEA, CNRS, AIM, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Maximilien Franco
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Adriano Fontana
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , via di Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
- Seiji Fujimoto
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Jagtvej 128, DK2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Lyngbyvej 2, DK2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
- 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
- Benne W. Holwerda
- ORCiD
- Physics & Astronomy Department, University of Louisville , Louisville, KY 40292 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
- Michaela Hirschmann
- ORCiD
- Institute of Physics , Laboratory of Galaxy Evolution, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
- Kartheik G. Iyer
- ORCiD
- Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
- Shardha Jogee
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Intae Jung
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Rebecca L. Larson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Ray A. Lucas
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Bahram Mobasher
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA
- Alexa M. Morales
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Caroline V. Morley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Sagnick Mukherjee
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Pablo G. Pérez-González
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850, Madrid, Spain
- Swara Ravindranath
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology II, Department of Physics, Catholic University of America , 620 Michigan Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20064, USA
- Giulia Rodighiero
- ORCiD
- INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova , Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, I-35122, Padova, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Università degli Studi di Padova , Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, I-35122, Padova, Italy
- Melanie J. Rowland
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- 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
- Anthony J. Taylor
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA ; [email protected]
- Jonathan R. Trump
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196 Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- 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
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad4495
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 969,
no. 1
p. L2
Abstract
We present a sample of 88 candidate z ∼ 8.5–14.5 galaxies selected from the completed NIRCam imaging from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science survey. These data cover ∼90 arcmin ^2 (10 NIRCam pointings) in six broadband imaging filters and one medium-band imaging filter. With this sample we confirm at higher confidence early JWST conclusions that bright galaxies in this epoch are more abundant than predicted by most theoretical models. We construct the rest-frame ultraviolet luminosity functions at z ∼ 9, 11, and 14 and show that the space density of bright ( M _UV = −20) galaxies changes only modestly from z ∼ 14 to z ∼ 9, compared to a steeper increase from z ∼ 8 to z ∼ 4. While our candidates are photometrically selected, spectroscopic follow-up has now confirmed 13 of them, with only one significant interloper, implying that the fidelity of this sample is high. Successfully explaining the evidence for a flatter evolution in the number densities of UV-bright z > 10 galaxies may thus require changes to the dominant physical processes regulating star formation. While our results indicate that significant variations of dust attenuation with redshift are unlikely to be the dominant factor at these high redshifts, they are consistent with predictions from models that naturally have enhanced star formation efficiency and/or stochasticity. An evolving stellar initial mass function could also bring model predictions into better agreement with our results. Deep spectroscopic follow-up of a large sample of early galaxies can distinguish between these competing scenarios.
Keywords
