The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
Efficient NIRCam Selection of Quiescent Galaxies at 3 < z < 6 in CEERS
- Arianna S. Long,
- Jacqueline Antwi-Danso,
- Erini L. Lambrides,
- Christopher C. Lovell,
- Alexander de la Vega,
- Francesco Valentino,
- Jorge A. Zavala,
- Caitlin M. Casey,
- Stephen M. Wilkins,
- L. Y. Aaron Yung,
- Pablo Arrabal Haro,
- Micaela B. Bagley,
- Laura Bisigello,
- Katherine Chworowsky,
- M. C. Cooper,
- Olivia R. Cooper,
- Asantha R. Cooray,
- Darren Croton,
- Mark Dickinson,
- Steven L. Finkelstein,
- Maximilien Franco,
- Katriona M. L. Gould,
- Michaela Hirschmann,
- Taylor A. Hutchison,
- Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe,
- Dale D. Kocevski,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Ray A. Lucas,
- Jed McKinney,
- Rachel Nere,
- Casey Papovich,
- Pablo G. Pérez-González,
- Nor Pirzkal,
- Paola Santini
Affiliations
- Arianna S. Long
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA ; [email protected]
- Jacqueline Antwi-Danso
- ORCiD
- George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- Erini L. Lambrides
- ORCiD
- NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center , Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Christopher C. Lovell
- ORCiD
- Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK; Centre for Astrophysics Research, School of Physics, Engineering & Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire , Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
- Alexander de la Vega
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
- Francesco Valentino
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark; European Southern Observatory , Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching bei Munchen, Germany
- Jorge A. Zavala
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
- Caitlin M. Casey
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA ; [email protected]
- 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
- L. Y. Aaron Yung
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Pablo Arrabal Haro
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Micaela B. Bagley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA ; [email protected]
- 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
- Katherine Chworowsky
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA ; [email protected]
- M. C. Cooper
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Irvine, 4129 Reines Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Olivia R. Cooper
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA ; [email protected]
- Asantha R. Cooray
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Irvine, 4129 Reines Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Darren Croton
- ORCiD
- Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
- Mark Dickinson
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Steven L. Finkelstein
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA ; [email protected]
- Maximilien Franco
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA ; [email protected]
- Katriona M. L. Gould
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Michaela Hirschmann
- ORCiD
- Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Galaxy Evolution, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
- Taylor A. Hutchison
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, 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
- Dale D. Kocevski
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Colby College , Waterville, ME 04901, USA
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Ray A. Lucas
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Jed McKinney
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA ; [email protected]
- Rachel Nere
- ORCiD
- The School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, GA, USA
- Casey Papovich
- ORCiD
- George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- Pablo G. Pérez-González
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850 Madrid, Spain
- Nor Pirzkal
- ORCiD
- ESA/AURA Space Telescope Science Institute , USA
- Paola Santini
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , via di Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad4cea
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 970,
no. 1
p. 68
Abstract
Substantial populations of massive quiescent galaxies at z ≥ 3 challenge our understanding of rapid galaxy growth and quenching over short timescales. In order to piece together this evolutionary puzzle, more statistical samples of these objects are required. Established techniques for identifying massive quiescent galaxies are increasingly inefficient and unconstrained at z > 3. As a result, studies report that as much as 70% of quiescent galaxies at z > 3 may be missed from existing surveys. In this work, we propose a new empirical color selection technique designed to select massive quiescent galaxies at 3 ≲ z ≲ 6 using JWST NIRCam imaging data. We use empirically constrained galaxy spectral energy distribution (SED) templates to define a region in the F277W − F444W versus F150W − F277W color plane that captures quiescent galaxies at z > 3. We apply these color selection criteria to the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey and use SED fitting on sources in the region to identify 44 candidate z ≳ 3 quiescent galaxies. Over half of these sources are newly discovered and, on average, exhibit specific star formation rates of poststarburst galaxies. Most of these sources would not be discovered using canonical UVJ diagrams. We derive volume density estimates of n ∼ 1–4 × 10 ^−5 Mpc ^−3 at 3 < z < 5, finding excellent agreement with existing reports on similar populations in the CEERS field. Thanks to NIRCam’s wavelength coverage and sensitivity, this technique provides an efficient tool to search for large samples of these rare galaxies.
Keywords
