The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
JWST Reveals a Possible z ∼ 11 Galaxy Merger in Triply Lensed MACS0647–JD
- Tiger Yu-Yang Hsiao,
- Dan Coe,
- Abdurro’uf,
- Lily Whitler,
- Intae Jung,
- Gourav Khullar,
- Ashish Kumar Meena,
- Pratika Dayal,
- Kirk S. S. Barrow,
- Lillian Santos-Olmsted,
- Adam Casselman,
- Eros Vanzella,
- Mario Nonino,
- Yolanda Jiménez-Teja,
- Masamune Oguri,
- Daniel P. Stark,
- Lukas J. Furtak,
- Adi Zitrin,
- Angela Adamo,
- Gabriel Brammer,
- Larry Bradley,
- Jose M. Diego,
- Erik Zackrisson,
- Steven L. Finkelstein,
- Rogier A. Windhorst,
- Rachana Bhatawdekar,
- Taylor A. Hutchison,
- Tom Broadhurst,
- Paola Dimauro,
- Felipe Andrade-Santos,
- Jan J. Eldridge,
- Ana Acebron,
- Roberto J. Avila,
- Matthew B. Bayliss,
- Alex Benítez,
- Christian Binggeli,
- Patricia Bolan,
- Maruša Bradač,
- Adam C. Carnall,
- Christopher J. Conselice,
- Megan Donahue,
- Brenda Frye,
- Seiji Fujimoto,
- Alaina Henry,
- Bethan L. James,
- Susan A. Kassin,
- Lisa Kewley,
- Rebecca L. Larson,
- Tod Lauer,
- David Law,
- Guillaume Mahler,
- Ramesh Mainali,
- Stephan McCandliss,
- David Nicholls,
- Norbert Pirzkal,
- Marc Postman,
- Jane R. Rigby,
- Russell Ryan,
- Peter Senchyna,
- Keren Sharon,
- Ikko Shimizu,
- Victoria Strait,
- Mengtao Tang,
- Michele Trenti,
- Anton Vikaeus,
- Brian Welch
Affiliations
- Tiger Yu-Yang Hsiao
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21218, USA [email protected]
- Dan Coe
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21218, USA [email protected]; Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) , Inc. for the European Space Agency (ESA), USA
- Abdurro’uf
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21218, USA [email protected]; Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Lily Whitler
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Intae Jung
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Gourav Khullar
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
- Ashish Kumar Meena
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , P.O. Box 653, Be’er-Sheva 84105, Israel
- Pratika Dayal
- ORCiD
- Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen , P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
- Kirk S. S. Barrow
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 1002 W Green St, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Lillian Santos-Olmsted
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University , 452 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-4085, USA
- Adam Casselman
- ORCiD
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana , Champaign 104 S Wright St, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Eros Vanzella
- ORCiD
- INAF—OAS , Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, via Gobetti 93/3, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
- Mario Nonino
- ORCiD
- INAF-Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via Bazzoni 2, I-34124, Trieste, Italy
- Yolanda Jiménez-Teja
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía , Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, E-18008 Granada, Spain; Observatório Nacional—MCTI (ON), Rua Gal. José Cristino 77, São Cristóvão, 20921-400, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Masamune Oguri
- ORCiD
- Center for Frontier Science, Chiba University , 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522, Japan; Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Chiba University , 1-33 Yayoi-Cho, Inage-Ku, Chiba 263-8522, Japan
- Daniel P. Stark
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Lukas J. Furtak
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , P.O. Box 653, Be’er-Sheva 84105, Israel
- Adi Zitrin
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , P.O. Box 653, Be’er-Sheva 84105, Israel
- Angela Adamo
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm University , AlbaNova University Centre, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Gabriel Brammer
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Copenhagen, Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Larry Bradley
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Jose M. Diego
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC) . Avda. Los Castros s/n. E-39005 Santander, Spain
- Erik Zackrisson
- ORCiD
- Observational Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University , Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
- Steven L. Finkelstein
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Rogier A. Windhorst
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA
- Rachana Bhatawdekar
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency , ESA/ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
- Taylor A. Hutchison
- ORCiD
- Observational Cosmology Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Tom Broadhurst
- ORCiD
- Department of Theoretical Physics, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU , Bilbao, Spain; Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) , E-20018 Donostia, Spain; IKERBASQUE , Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
- Paola Dimauro
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , via di Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
- Felipe Andrade-Santos
- ORCiD
- Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Berklee College of Music , 7 Haviland Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Jan J. Eldridge
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Auckland , Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
- Ana Acebron
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano , Via Celoria 16, I-20133 Milano, Italy; INAF—IASF Milano , via A. Corti 12, I-20133 Milano, Italy
- Roberto J. Avila
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Matthew B. Bayliss
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati , Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
- Alex Benítez
- ORCiD
- King’s College London, University of London , Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK
- Christian Binggeli
- ORCiD
- Observational Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University , Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
- Patricia Bolan
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA
- Maruša Bradač
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Department of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana , Jadranska ulica 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Adam C. Carnall
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Christopher J. Conselice
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- Megan Donahue
- ORCiD
- Physics & Astronomy Department, Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
- Brenda Frye
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Seiji Fujimoto
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Copenhagen, Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Alaina Henry
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21218, USA [email protected]; Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Bethan L. James
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Susan A. Kassin
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21218, USA [email protected]; Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Lisa Kewley
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Rebecca L. Larson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Tod Lauer
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- David Law
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Guillaume Mahler
- ORCiD
- Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK; Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
- Ramesh Mainali
- ORCiD
- Observational Cosmology Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Stephan McCandliss
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21218, USA [email protected]
- David Nicholls
- ORCiD
- Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
- Norbert Pirzkal
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Marc Postman
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Jane R. Rigby
- ORCiD
- Observational Cosmology Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Russell Ryan
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Peter Senchyna
- ORCiD
- Carnegie Observatories , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
- Keren Sharon
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , 1085 S. University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Ikko Shimizu
- Department of Literature, Shikoku Gakuin University , 3-2-1 Bunkyocho, Zentsuji, Kagawa 765-8505, Japan
- Victoria Strait
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Copenhagen, Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Mengtao Tang
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Michele Trenti
- ORCiD
- School of Physics, University of Melbourne , Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions, University of Melbourne , Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
- Anton Vikaeus
- ORCiD
- Observational Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University , Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
- Brian Welch
- ORCiD
- Observational Cosmology Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology , NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acc94b
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 949,
no. 2
p. L34
Abstract
MACS0647–JD is a triply lensed z ∼ 11 galaxy originally discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope. The three lensed images are magnified by factors of ∼8, 5, and 2 to AB mag 25.1, 25.6, and 26.6 at 3.5 μ m. The brightest is over a magnitude brighter than other galaxies recently discovered at similar redshifts z > 10 with JWST. Here, we report new JWST imaging that clearly resolves MACS0647–JD as having two components that are either merging galaxies or stellar complexes within a single galaxy. The brighter larger component “A” is intrinsically very blue ( β ∼ −2.6 ± 0.1), likely due to very recent star formation and no dust, and is spatially extended with an effective radius ∼70 ± 24 pc. The smaller component “B” ( r ∼ 20 ${}_{-5}^{+8}\,$ pc) appears redder ( β ∼ −2 ± 0.2), likely because it is older (100–200 Myr) with mild dust extinction ( A _V ∼ 0.1 mag). With an estimated stellar mass ratio of roughly 2:1 and physical projected separation ∼400 pc, we may be witnessing a galaxy merger 430 million years after the Big Bang. We identify galaxies with similar colors in a high-redshift simulation, finding their star formation histories to be dissimilar, which is also suggested by the spectral energy distribution fitting, suggesting they formed further apart. We also identify a candidate companion galaxy “C” ∼3 kpc away, likely destined to merge with A and B. Upcoming JWST Near Infrared Spectrograph observations planned for 2023 January will deliver spectroscopic redshifts and more physical properties for these tiny magnified distant galaxies observed in the early universe.
Keywords
