Unveiling the Dark Side of Ultraviolet/Optical Bright Galaxies: Optically Thick Dust Absorption

Yingjie Cheng; Mauro Giavalisco; Bren E. Backhaus; Rachana Bhatawdekar; Nikko J. Cleri; Luca Costantin; Emanuele Daddi; Mark Dickinson; Steven L. Finkelstein; Michaela Hirschmann; Benne W. Holwerda; Anton M. Koekemoer; Ray A. Lucas; Fabio Pacucci; Pablo G. Pérez-González; Giulia Rodighiero; Lise-Marie Seillé; Katherine E. Whitaker; L. Y. Aaron Yung; Pablo Arrabal Haro; Micaela B. Bagley; Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe; Casey Papovich; Nor Pirzkal

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad9909

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2025)

Unveiling the Dark Side of Ultraviolet/Optical Bright Galaxies: Optically Thick Dust Absorption

Yingjie Cheng,
Mauro Giavalisco,
Bren E. Backhaus,
Rachana Bhatawdekar,
Nikko J. Cleri,
Luca Costantin,
Emanuele Daddi,
Mark Dickinson,
Steven L. Finkelstein,
Michaela Hirschmann,
Benne W. Holwerda,
Anton M. Koekemoer,
Ray A. Lucas,
Fabio Pacucci,
Pablo G. Pérez-González,
Giulia Rodighiero,
Lise-Marie Seillé,
Katherine E. Whitaker,
L. Y. Aaron Yung,
Pablo Arrabal Haro,
Micaela B. Bagley,
Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe,
Casey Papovich,
Nor Pirzkal

Affiliations

Yingjie Cheng: ORCiD; U niversity of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA ; [email protected]
Mauro Giavalisco: ORCiD; U niversity of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA ; [email protected]
Bren E. Backhaus: ORCiD; Department of Physics, 196 Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Rachana Bhatawdekar: ORCiD; European Space Agency (ESA) , European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
Nikko J. Cleri: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational and 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; 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
Emanuele Daddi: ORCiD; Université Paris-Saclay , Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Mark Dickinson: ORCiD; NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
Steven L. Finkelstein: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, 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 , 40292 KY, Louisville, 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
Fabio Pacucci: ORCiD; Center for Astrophysics—Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Black Hole Initiative, Harvard University , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Pablo G. Pérez-González: ORCiD; Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850, Madrid, Spain
Giulia Rodighiero: 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
Lise-Marie Seillé: ORCiD; Aix Marseille Univ , CNRS, CNES, LAM Marseille, France
Katherine E. Whitaker: ORCiD; U niversity of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA ; [email protected]
L. Y. Aaron Yung: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Pablo Arrabal Haro: ORCiD; NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
Micaela B. Bagley: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, 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
Casey Papovich: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX, 77843-4242, USA
Nor Pirzkal: ORCiD; ESA/AURA Space Telescope Science Institute , USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9909
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 979, no. 1
p. 71

Abstract

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Over the past decades, a population of galaxies invisible in optical/near-infrared (NIR), but bright at longer wavelengths, have been identified through color selections. These so-called optically faint/dark galaxies are considered to be massive quiescent galaxies or highly dust-attenuated galaxies. Having the entire galaxy obscured by dust, however, is likely an extreme case of the much more common occurrence of optically thin and thick absorption coexisting in the same system. With the power of JWST imaging, we are able to spatially resolve massive galaxies at z ∼ 3, accurately model their spectral energy distributions, and identify candidate optically thick substructures. We target galaxies with $\mathrm{log}({M}_{* }/{M}_{\odot })\gt $ 10.3 and 2.5 < z < 3.5, and get 486 galaxies in Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey and Public Release Imaging for Extragalactic Research fields. Based on excess NIR luminosity, we identify 162 galaxies (∼33% of the parent sample) as candidate hosts of optically thick substructures. We then carry out spatially resolved spectral energy distribution modeling to explore the physical properties of those dark substructures and estimate the amount of optically thick obscuration. We find that optically thick dust is ubiquitous in normal massive galaxies with a wide variety of star formation rate (SFR) and morphology. 10%–20% of the stellar mass/SFR are unaccounted for in our selected galaxies, and the fraction is insensitive to stellar mass or SFR. The dark substructures are generally dustier than the rest of the galaxies and are irregularly distributed, arguing against an obscured active galactic nucleus as the source of the NIR excess. A correlation between the obscured luminosity and the presence of a recent starburst in the past ≲100 Myr is also observed.

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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