NGDEEP: The Star Formation and Ionization Properties of Galaxies at 1.7 < z < 3.4

Lu Shen; Casey Papovich; Jasleen Matharu; Nor Pirzkal; Weida Hu; Danielle A. Berg; Micaela B. Bagley; Bren E. Backhaus; Nikko J. Cleri; Mark Dickinson; Steven L. Finkelstein; Nimish P. Hathi; Marc Huertas-Company; Taylor A. Hutchison; Mauro Giavalisco; Norman A. Grogin; Anne E. Jaskot; Intae Jung; Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe; Anton M. Koekemoer; Jennifer M. Lotz; Pablo G. Pérez-González; Barry Rothberg; Raymond C. Simons; Brittany N. Vanderhoof; L. Y. Aaron Yung

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/adb28d

The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2025)

NGDEEP: The Star Formation and Ionization Properties of Galaxies at 1.7 < z < 3.4

Lu Shen,
Casey Papovich,
Jasleen Matharu,
Nor Pirzkal,
Weida Hu,
Danielle A. Berg,
Micaela B. Bagley,
Bren E. Backhaus,
Nikko J. Cleri,
Mark Dickinson,
Steven L. Finkelstein,
Nimish P. Hathi,
Marc Huertas-Company,
Taylor A. Hutchison,
Mauro Giavalisco,
Norman A. Grogin,
Anne E. Jaskot,
Intae Jung,
Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe,
Anton M. Koekemoer,
Jennifer M. Lotz,
Pablo G. Pérez-González,
Barry Rothberg,
Raymond C. Simons,
Brittany N. Vanderhoof,
L. Y. Aaron Yung

Affiliations

Lu Shen: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA ; [email protected]; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Casey Papovich: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA ; [email protected]; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Jasleen Matharu: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Copenhagen, Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Nor Pirzkal: ORCiD; ESA/AURA Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD, USA
Weida Hu: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA ; [email protected]; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Danielle A. Berg: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA
Micaela B. Bagley: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA
Bren E. Backhaus: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas , Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
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
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
Nimish P. Hathi: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, 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
Taylor A. Hutchison: ORCiD; Astrophysics Science Division , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Mauro Giavalisco: ORCiD; University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
Norman A. Grogin: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD, USA
Anne E. Jaskot: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Williams College , Williamstown, MA 01267, USA
Intae Jung: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, 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
Anton M. Koekemoer: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Jennifer M. Lotz: ORCiD; Gemini Observatory/NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
Pablo G. Pérez-González: ORCiD; Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850, Madrid, Spain
Barry Rothberg: ORCiD; U.S. Naval Observatory , 3450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20392, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, George Mason University , 4400 University Drive, MSN 3F3, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
Raymond C. Simons: ORCiD; Department of Physics, 196 Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Brittany N. Vanderhoof: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
L. Y. Aaron Yung: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adb28d
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 980, no. 2
p. L45

Abstract

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We use JWST/NIRISS slitless spectroscopy from the Next Generation Deep Extragalactic Exploratory Public (NGDEEP) Survey to investigate the physical condition of 178 star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 3.4. At these redshifts, the deep NGDEEP NIRISS slitless spectroscopy covers the [O ii ] λλ 3726,3729, [O iii ] λλ 4959,5007, H β and H α emission features for galaxies with stellar masses $\mathrm{log}({{M}}_{* }/{{M}}_{\odot })\gtrsim 7$ , nearly a factor of 100 lower than previous studies. We focus on the [O ii ]/[O iii ] (O _32 ) ratio which is primarily sensitive to the ionization state and with a secondary dependence on the gas-phase metallicity of the interstellar medium. We find significant (≳5 σ ) correlations between the O _32 ratio and galaxy properties as O _32 increases with decreasing stellar mass, decreasing star formation rate (SFR), increasing specific SFR (sSFR ≡ SFR/ M _* ), and increasing equivalent width (EW) of H α and H β . These trends suggest a tight connection between the ionization parameter and these galaxy properties. Galaxies at z ∼ 2–3 exhibit a higher O _32 than local normal galaxies with the same stellar masses and SFRs, indicating that they have a higher ionization parameter and lower metallicity than local normal galaxies. In addition, we observe a mild evolutionary trend in the O _32 –EW(H β ) relation from z ∼ 0 to z ≳ 5, where higher redshift galaxies show increased O _32 and EW, with possibly higher O _32 at fixed EW. We argue that both the enhanced recent star formation activity and the higher star formation surface density may contribute to the increase in O _32 and the ionization parameter.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

ISSN: 2041-8205 (Print); 2041-8213 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205

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