A Steep Decline in the Galaxy Space Density beyond Redshift 9 in the CANUCS UV Luminosity Function

Chris J. Willott; Guillaume Desprez; Yoshihisa Asada; Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh; Roberto Abraham; Maruša Bradač; Gabe Brammer; Vince Estrada-Carpenter; Kartheik G. Iyer; Nicholas S. Martis; Jasleen Matharu; Lamiya Mowla; Adam Muzzin; Gaël Noirot; Marcin Sawicki; Victoria Strait; Gregor Rihtaršič; Sunna Withers

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad35bc

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)

A Steep Decline in the Galaxy Space Density beyond Redshift 9 in the CANUCS UV Luminosity Function

Chris J. Willott,
Guillaume Desprez,
Yoshihisa Asada,
Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh,
Roberto Abraham,
Maruša Bradač,
Gabe Brammer,
Vince Estrada-Carpenter,
Kartheik G. Iyer,
Nicholas S. Martis,
Jasleen Matharu,
Lamiya Mowla,
Adam Muzzin,
Gaël Noirot,
Marcin Sawicki,
Victoria Strait,
Gregor Rihtaršič,
Sunna Withers

Affiliations

Chris J. Willott: ORCiD; NRC Herzberg, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada ; [email protected]
Guillaume Desprez: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada
Yoshihisa Asada: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada; Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University , Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University , 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
Roberto Abraham: ORCiD; David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
Maruša Bradač: ORCiD; University of Ljubljana , Department of Mathematics and Physics, Jadranska ulica 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Davis , 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Gabe Brammer: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Vince Estrada-Carpenter: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada
Kartheik G. Iyer: ORCiD; Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
Nicholas S. Martis: ORCiD; NRC Herzberg, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada ; [email protected]; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada; University of Ljubljana , Department of Mathematics and Physics, Jadranska ulica 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jasleen Matharu: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Lamiya Mowla: ORCiD; Whitin Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy , Wellesley College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA
Adam Muzzin: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University , 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
Gaël Noirot: Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada
Marcin Sawicki: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Physics and Institute for Computational Astrophysics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada
Victoria Strait: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Gregor Rihtaršič: ORCiD; University of Ljubljana , Department of Mathematics and Physics, Jadranska ulica 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Sunna Withers: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University , 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad35bc
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 966, no. 1
p. 74

Abstract

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We present a new sample of 158 galaxies at redshift z > 7.5 selected from deep James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam imaging of five widely separated sight lines in the CANUCS survey. Two-thirds of the pointings and 80% of the galaxies are covered by 12–14 NIRCam filters, including seven to nine medium bands, providing accurate photometric redshifts and robustness against low-redshift interlopers. A sample of 28 galaxies at z > 7.5 with spectroscopic redshifts shows a low systematic offset and scatter in the difference between photometric and spectroscopic redshifts. We derive the galaxy UV luminosity function at redshifts 8–12, finding a slightly higher normalization than previously seen with the Hubble Space Telescope at redshifts 8–10. We observe a steeper decline in the galaxy space density from z = 8 to 12 than found by most JWST Cycle 1 studies. In particular, we find only eight galaxies at z > 10 and none at z > 12.5, with no z > 10 galaxies brighter than F277W AB = 28 or M _UV = −20 in our unmasked, delensed survey area of 53.4 arcmin ^2 . We attribute the lack of bright z > 10 galaxies in CANUCS compared to GLASS and CEERS to intrinsic variance in the galaxy density along different sight lines. The evolution in the CANUCS luminosity function between z = 8 and 12 is comparable to that predicted by simulations that assume a standard star formation efficiency without invoking any special adjustments.

High-redshift galaxies

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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