The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)
JADES Imaging of GN-z11: Revealing the Morphology and Environment of a Luminous Galaxy 430 Myr after the Big Bang
- Sandro Tacchella,
- Daniel J. Eisenstein,
- Kevin Hainline,
- Benjamin D. Johnson,
- William M. Baker,
- Jakob M. Helton,
- Brant Robertson,
- Katherine A. Suess,
- Zuyi Chen,
- Erica Nelson,
- Dávid Puskás,
- Fengwu Sun,
- Stacey Alberts,
- Eiichi Egami,
- Ryan Hausen,
- George Rieke,
- Marcia Rieke,
- Irene Shivaei,
- Christina C. Williams,
- Christopher N. A. Willmer,
- Andrew Bunker,
- Alex J. Cameron,
- Stefano Carniani,
- Stephane Charlot,
- Mirko Curti,
- Emma Curtis-Lake,
- Tobias J. Looser,
- Roberto Maiolino,
- Michael V. Maseda,
- Tim Rawle,
- Hans-Walter Rix,
- Renske Smit,
- Hannah Übler,
- Chris Willott,
- Joris Witstok,
- Stefi Baum,
- Rachana Bhatawdekar,
- Kristan Boyett,
- A. Lola Danhaive,
- Anna de Graaff,
- Ryan Endsley,
- Zhiyuan Ji,
- Jianwei Lyu,
- Lester Sandles,
- Aayush Saxena,
- Jan Scholtz,
- Michael W. Topping,
- Lily Whitler
Affiliations
- Sandro Tacchella
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Daniel J. Eisenstein
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
- Kevin Hainline
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Benjamin D. Johnson
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
- William M. Baker
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Jakob M. Helton
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Brant Robertson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Katherine A. Suess
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and Department of Physics, Stanford University , Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Zuyi Chen
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Erica Nelson
- ORCiD
- Department for Astrophysical and Planetary Science, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80309, USA
- Dávid Puskás
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Fengwu Sun
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Stacey Alberts
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Eiichi Egami
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Ryan Hausen
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- George Rieke
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Marcia Rieke
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Irene Shivaei
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Christina C. Williams
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Christopher N. A. Willmer
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Andrew Bunker
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
- Alex J. Cameron
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
- Stefano Carniani
- ORCiD
- Scuola Normale Superiore , Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
- Stephane Charlot
- ORCiD
- Sorbonne Université , CNRS, UMR 7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, 98 bis bd Arago, F-75014 Paris, France
- Mirko Curti
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK; European Southern Observatory , Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei Müenchen, Germany
- Emma Curtis-Lake
- ORCiD
- Centre for Astrophysics Research, Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire , Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UK
- Tobias J. Looser
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Roberto Maiolino
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Michael V. Maseda
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison , 475 North Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Tim Rawle
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, US
- Hans-Walter Rix
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117, Heidelberg, Germany
- Renske Smit
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
- Hannah Übler
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Chris Willott
- ORCiD
- NRC Herzberg , 5071 West Saanich Rd, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7, Canada
- Joris Witstok
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Stefi Baum
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba , Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada
- Rachana Bhatawdekar
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency , ESAC/ESAC, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, E-28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain; European Space Agency , ESA/ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, NL, The Netherlands
- Kristan Boyett
- ORCiD
- School of Physics, University of Melbourne , Parkville 3010, VIC 3010, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
- A. Lola Danhaive
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Anna de Graaff
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117, Heidelberg, Germany
- Ryan Endsley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Texas , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Zhiyuan Ji
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Jianwei Lyu
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Lester Sandles
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Aayush Saxena
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Jan Scholtz
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK ; [email protected]; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Michael W. Topping
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Lily Whitler
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acdbc6
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 952,
no. 1
p. 74
Abstract
We present JWST NIRCam nine-band near-infrared imaging of the luminous z = 10.6 galaxy GN-z11 from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey of the GOODS-N field. We find a spectral energy distribution (SED) entirely consistent with the expected form of a high-redshift galaxy: a clear blue continuum from 1.5 to 4 μ m with a complete dropout in F115W. The core of GN-z11 is extremely compact in JWST imaging. We analyze the image with a two-component model, using a point source and a Sérsic profile that fits to a half-light radius of 200 pc and an index n = 0.9. We find a low-surface-brightness haze about 0.″4 to the northeast of the galaxy, which is most likely a foreground object but might be a more extended component of GN-z11. At a spectroscopic redshift of 10.60 (Bunker et al. 2023 ), the comparison of the NIRCam F410M and F444W images spans the Balmer jump. From population-synthesis modeling, here assuming no light from an active galactic nucleus, we reproduce the SED of GN-z11, finding a stellar mass of ∼10 ^9 M _⊙ , a star formation rate of ∼20 M _⊙ yr ^−1 , and a young stellar age of ∼20 Myr. Since massive galaxies at high redshift are likely to be highly clustered, we search for faint neighbors of GN-z11, finding nine galaxies out to ∼5 comoving Mpc transverse with photometric redshifts consistent with z = 10.6, and a tenth more tentative dropout only 3″ away. This is consistent with GN-z11 being hosted by a massive dark-matter halo (≈8 × 10 ^10 M _⊙ ), though lower halo masses cannot be ruled out.
Keywords