The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)
Magellanic System Stars Identified in SMACS J0723.3-7327 James Webb Space Telescope Early Release Observations Images
- Jake Summers,
- Rogier A. Windhorst,
- Seth H. Cohen,
- Rolf A. Jansen,
- Timothy Carleton,
- Patrick S. Kamieneski,
- Benne W. Holwerda,
- Christopher J. Conselice,
- Nathan J. Adams,
- Brenda L. Frye,
- Jose M. Diego,
- Christopher N. A. Willmer,
- Rafael Ortiz III,
- Cheng Cheng,
- Alex Pigarelli,
- Aaron Robotham,
- Jordan C. J. D’Silva,
- Scott Tompkins,
- Simon P. Driver,
- Haojing Yan,
- Dan Coe,
- Norman Grogin,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Madeline A. Marshall,
- Nor Pirzkal,
- Russell E. Ryan Jr.
Affiliations
- 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
- Seth H. Cohen
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA
- Rolf A. Jansen
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA
- Timothy Carleton
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA
- Patrick S. Kamieneski
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA
- Benne W. Holwerda
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville , Louisville, KY 40292, USA
- Christopher J. Conselice
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
- Nathan J. Adams
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
- Brenda L. Frye
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0009, USA
- Jose M. Diego
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Avenida. Los Castros s/n. E-39005 Santander, Spain
- Christopher N. A. Willmer
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0009, USA
- Rafael Ortiz III
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA
- Cheng Cheng
- ORCiD
- Chinese Academy of Sciences , National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China
- Alex Pigarelli
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA
- Aaron 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
- 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) , Level 2, 11 Lancaster Place, Canberra Airport, ACT 2609, Australia
- Scott Tompkins
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA; 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
- 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
- Haojing Yan
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri , Columbia, MO 65211, USA
- Dan Coe
- ORCiD
- AURA for the European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Norman Grogin
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Madeline A. Marshall
- ORCiD
- ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Level 2, 11 Lancaster Place, Canberra Airport, ACT 2609, Australia; National Research Council of Canada, Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Centre , 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada
- Nor Pirzkal
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Russell E. Ryan Jr.
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acffb9
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 958,
no. 2
p. 108
Abstract
We identify 71 distant stars in James Webb Space Telescope/NIRCam early release observations (ERO) images of the field of galaxy cluster SMACS J0723.3-7327 (SMACS 0723). Given the relatively small (∼10°) angular separation between SMACS 0723 and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), it is likely that these stars are associated with the LMC outskirts or the Leading Arm. This is further bolstered by a spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis, which suggests an excess of stars at a physical distance of 40–100 kpc, consistent with being associated with or located behind the Magellanic system. In particular, we find that the overall surface density of stars brighter than 27.0 mag in the field of SMACS 0723 is ∼2.3 times that of stars in a blank field with similar Galactic latitude (the North Ecliptic Pole Time Domain Field), and that the density of stars in the SMACS 0723 field with SED-derived distances consistent with the Magellanic system is ∼6.1 times larger than that of the blank field. The candidate stars at these distances are consistent with a stellar population at the same distance modulus with [Fe/H] = −1.0 and an age of ∼5.0 Gyr. On the assumption that all of the 71 stars are associated with the LMC, then the stellar density of the LMC at the location of the SMACS 0723 field is ∼740 stars kpc ^−3 , which helps trace the density of stars in the LMC outskirts.
Keywords
