Exposing Line Emission: The Systematic Differences of Measuring Galaxy Stellar Masses with JWST NIRCam Medium versus Wide Band Photometry

Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh; Adam Muzzin; Kartheik G. Iyer; Lamiya Mowla; Sunna Withers; Nicholas S. Martis; Roberto Abraham; Yoshihisa Asada; Maruša Bradač; Gabriel B. Brammer; Guillaume Desprez; Vince Estrada-Carpenter; Jasleen Matharu; Gaël Noirot; Marcin Sawicki; Victoria Strait; Chris J. Willott; Johannes Zabl

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad43e8

The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2024)

Exposing Line Emission: The Systematic Differences of Measuring Galaxy Stellar Masses with JWST NIRCam Medium versus Wide Band Photometry

Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh,
Adam Muzzin,
Kartheik G. Iyer,
Lamiya Mowla,
Sunna Withers,
Nicholas S. Martis,
Roberto Abraham,
Yoshihisa Asada,
Maruša Bradač,
Gabriel B. Brammer,
Guillaume Desprez,
Vince Estrada-Carpenter,
Jasleen Matharu,
Gaël Noirot,
Marcin Sawicki,
Victoria Strait,
Chris J. Willott,
Johannes Zabl

Affiliations

Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University , 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario MJ3 1P3, Canada
Adam Muzzin: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University , 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario MJ3 1P3, Canada
Kartheik G. Iyer: ORCiD; Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
Lamiya Mowla: ORCiD; Whitin Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wellesley College , 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA
Sunna Withers: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University , 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario MJ3 1P3, Canada
Nicholas S. Martis: ORCiD; University of Ljubljana , Department of Mathematics and Physics, Jadranska ulica 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Roberto Abraham: ORCiD; David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H4, Canada
Yoshihisa Asada: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3, Canada; Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University , Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Maruša Bradač: ORCiD; University of Ljubljana , Department of Mathematics and Physics, Jadranska ulica 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Davis , 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Gabriel B. Brammer: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Guillaume Desprez: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3, Canada
Vince Estrada-Carpenter: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3, Canada
Jasleen Matharu: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Gaël Noirot: Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3, Canada
Marcin Sawicki: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3, Canada
Victoria Strait: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Chris J. Willott: ORCiD; NRC Herzberg , 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada
Johannes Zabl: Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3, Canada

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad43e8
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 967, no. 1
p. L17

Abstract

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Photometrically derived stellar masses are known to suffer from systematic uncertainties, particularly due to nebular emission contributions to the spectral energy distribution (SED). Using James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam imaging from the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey, we introduce a comparison study of photometrically derived redshifts and stellar masses based on two photometric catalogs of the same field spanning ∼0.4–4.5 μ m: one consisting solely of wide band photometry, and another employing a combination of wide and medium band photometry. We find that ∼70% of likely line emitters have consistent photometric redshifts between both catalogs, with a median stellar mass difference between the two catalogs of 5. These systematic differences caused by the poor spectral resolution of wide bands have implications for both ongoing and future planned observing programs that determine stellar mass and other physical properties of high-redshift galaxies solely via wide band photometry.

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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