UNCOVER: Significant Reddening in Cosmic Noon Quiescent Galaxies

Jared C. Siegel; David J. Setton; Jenny E. Greene; Katherine A. Suess; Katherine E. Whitaker; Rachel Bezanson; Joel Leja; Lukas J. Furtak; Sam E. Cutler; Anna de Graaff; Robert Feldmann; Gourav Khullar; Ivo Labbe; Danilo Marchesini; Tim B. Miller; Themiya Nanayakkara; Richard Pan; Sedona H. Price; Helena P. Treiber; Pieter van Dokkum; Bingjie Wang; John R. Weaver

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/adc7b7

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2025)

UNCOVER: Significant Reddening in Cosmic Noon Quiescent Galaxies

Jared C. Siegel,
David J. Setton,
Jenny E. Greene,
Katherine A. Suess,
Katherine E. Whitaker,
Rachel Bezanson,
Joel Leja,
Lukas J. Furtak,
Sam E. Cutler,
Anna de Graaff,
Robert Feldmann,
Gourav Khullar,
Ivo Labbe,
Danilo Marchesini,
Tim B. Miller,
Themiya Nanayakkara,
Richard Pan,
Sedona H. Price,
Helena P. Treiber,
Pieter van Dokkum,
Bingjie Wang,
John R. Weaver

Affiliations

Jared C. Siegel: ORCiD; Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA ; [email protected]
David J. Setton: ORCiD; Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA ; [email protected]
Jenny E. Greene: ORCiD; Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA ; [email protected]
Katherine A. Suess: ORCiD; Department for Astrophysical & Planetary Science, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Katherine E. Whitaker: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark
Rachel Bezanson: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
Joel Leja: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational & 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
Lukas J. Furtak: ORCiD; Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , P.O. Box 653, Be’er-Sheva 84105, Israel
Sam E. Cutler: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Anna de Graaff: ORCiD; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117, Heidelberg, Germany
Robert Feldmann: ORCiD; Department of Astrophysics, University of Zurich , CH-8057, Switzerland
Gourav Khullar: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
Ivo Labbe: ORCiD; Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia
Danilo Marchesini: ORCiD; Department of Physics & Astronomy, Tufts University , MA 02155, USA
Tim B. Miller: ORCiD; Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Northwestern University , 1800 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201, USA
Themiya Nanayakkara: ORCiD; Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia
Richard Pan: ORCiD; Department of Physics & Astronomy, Tufts University , MA 02155, USA
Sedona H. Price: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
Helena P. Treiber: ORCiD; Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA ; [email protected]
Pieter van Dokkum: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Bingjie Wang: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational & 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
John R. Weaver: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc7b7
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 985, no. 1
p. 125

Abstract

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We explore the physical properties of five massive quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 2.5, revealing the presence of nonnegligible dust reservoirs. JWST NIRSpec observations were obtained for each target, finding no significant line emission; multiple star formation tracers independently place upper limits between 0.1 and 10 M _⊙ yr ^−1 . Spectral energy distribution modeling with Prospector infers stellar masses of ${\mathrm{log}}_{10}[M/{M}_{\odot }]\sim 10-11$ and stellar-mass-weighted ages between 1 and 2 Gyr. The inferred mass-weighted effective radii ( r _eff ∼ 0.4–1.4 kpc) and inner 1 kpc stellar surface densities ( ${\mathrm{log}}_{10}[{\Sigma }_{\lt 1\,\mathrm{kpc}}/{M}_{\odot }\,{\mathrm{kpc}}^{2}]\gtrsim 9$ ) are typical of quiescent galaxies at z ≳ 2. The galaxies predominately display negative color gradients (redder core and bluer outskirts); for one galaxy, this effect results from a dusty core. Unlike local quiescent galaxies, we identify significant reddening in these typical cosmic noon passive galaxies; all but one require A _V ≳ 0.4. This finding is in qualitative agreement with previous studies, but our deep 20-band NIRCam imaging is able to significantly suppress the dust–age degeneracy and confidently determine that these galaxies are reddened. We speculate about the physical effects that may drive the decline in dust content in quiescent galaxies over cosmic time.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal

ISSN: 1538-4357 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X

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