The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
Extremely Red Galaxies at z = 5–9 with MIRI and NIRSpec: Dusty Galaxies or Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei?
- Guillermo Barro,
- Pablo G. Pérez-González,
- Dale D. Kocevski,
- Elizabeth J. McGrath,
- Jonathan R. Trump,
- Raymond C. Simons,
- Rachel S. Somerville,
- L. Y. Aaron Yung,
- Pablo Arrabal Haro,
- Hollis B. Akins,
- Michaela B. Bagley,
- Nikko J. Cleri,
- Luca Costantin,
- Kelcey Davis,
- Mark Dickinson,
- Steve L. Finkelstein,
- Mauro Giavalisco,
- Carlos Gómez-Guijarro,
- Nimish P. Hathi,
- Michaela Hirschmann,
- Benne W. Holwerda,
- Marc Huertas-Company,
- Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Ray A. Lucas,
- Casey Papovich,
- Nor Pirzkal,
- Lise-Marie Seillé,
- Sandro Tacchella,
- Stijn Wuyts,
- Stephen M. Wilkins,
- Alexander de la Vega,
- Guang Yang,
- Jorge A. Zavala
Affiliations
- Guillermo Barro
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Pacific , Stockton, CA 90340 USA
- Pablo G. Pérez-González
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850 Madrid, Spain
- Dale D. Kocevski
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Colby College , Waterville, ME 04901, USA
- Elizabeth J. McGrath
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Colby College , Waterville, ME 04901, USA
- Jonathan R. Trump
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Raymond C. Simons
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Rachel S. Somerville
- ORCiD
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
- 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
- Hollis B. Akins
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA
- Michaela B. Bagley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA
- 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
- Luca Costantin
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB/CSIC-INTA) , Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850 Madrid, Spain
- Kelcey Davis
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Mark Dickinson
- ORCiD
- NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Steve L. Finkelstein
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA
- Mauro Giavalisco
- ORCiD
- University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
- Carlos Gómez-Guijarro
- ORCiD
- Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité , CEA, CNRS, AIM, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Nimish P. Hathi
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD, USA
- Michaela Hirschmann
- ORCiD
- Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Galaxy Evolution, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Nor Pirzkal
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Lise-Marie Seillé
- ORCiD
- Aix Marseille Univ , CNRS, CNES, LAM Marseille, France
- 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
- Stijn Wuyts
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Bath , Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
- 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
- Alexander de la Vega
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
- Guang Yang
- ORCiD
- Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen , P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands; SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research , Postbus 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
- Jorge A. Zavala
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad167e
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 963,
no. 2
p. 128
Abstract
We study a new population of extremely red objects (EROs) recently discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) based on their NIRCam colors F277W − F444W > 1.5 mag. We find 37 EROs in the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS) field with F444W 7 by up to a factor ∼60. Similarly, if they are QSOs with luminosities in the L _bol > 10 ^45–46 erg s ^−1 range, their number would exceed that of bright blue QSOs by more than three orders of magnitude. Additional photometry at mid-infrared wavelengths will reveal the true nature of the red continuum emission in these EROs and will place this puzzling population in the right context of galaxy evolution.
Keywords
- Galaxy formation
- Galaxy evolution
- High-redshift galaxies
- Stellar populations
- James Webb Space Telescope
- Galaxy photometry
