The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2024)
Two Distinct Classes of Quiescent Galaxies at Cosmic Noon Revealed by JWST PRIMER and UNCOVER
- Sam E. Cutler,
- Katherine E. Whitaker,
- John R. Weaver,
- Bingjie Wang,
- Richard Pan,
- Rachel Bezanson,
- Lukas J. Furtak,
- Ivo Labbe,
- Joel Leja,
- Sedona H. Price,
- Yingjie Cheng,
- Maike Clausen,
- Fergus Cullen,
- Pratika Dayal,
- Anna de Graaff,
- Mark Dickinson,
- James S. Dunlop,
- Robert Feldmann,
- Marijn Franx,
- Mauro Giavalisco,
- Karl Glazebrook,
- Jenny E. Greene,
- Norman A. Grogin,
- Garth Illingworth,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Vasily Kokorev,
- Danilo Marchesini,
- Michael V. Maseda,
- Tim B. Miller,
- Themiya Nanayakkara,
- Erica J. Nelson,
- David J. Setton,
- Heath Shipley,
- Katherine A. Suess
Affiliations
- Sam E. Cutler
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA ; [email protected]
- Katherine E. Whitaker
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA ; [email protected]; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark
- John R. Weaver
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA ; [email protected]
- Bingjie Wang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational & 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
- Richard Pan
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Tufts University , MA 02155, USA
- Rachel Bezanson
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
- Lukas J. Furtak
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , P.O. Box 653, Be’er-Sheva 84105, Israel
- Ivo Labbe
- ORCiD
- Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia
- Joel Leja
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Computational & 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
- Sedona H. Price
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
- Yingjie Cheng
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA ; [email protected]
- Maike Clausen
- ORCiD
- Max Planck Institute of Astronomy , Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Fergus Cullen
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Pratika Dayal
- ORCiD
- Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen , P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
- Anna de Graaff
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117, Heidelberg, Germany
- Mark Dickinson
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- James S. Dunlop
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Robert Feldmann
- ORCiD
- Institute for Computational Science, University of Zurich , Zurich CH-8057, Switzerland
- Marijn Franx
- ORCiD
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
- Mauro Giavalisco
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA ; [email protected]
- Karl Glazebrook
- ORCiD
- Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
- Jenny E. Greene
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , 4 Ivy Ln., Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Norman A. Grogin
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Garth Illingworth
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Vasily Kokorev
- ORCiD
- Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen , P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
- Danilo Marchesini
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Tufts University , MA 02155, USA
- Michael V. Maseda
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison , 475 N. Charter St., Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Tim B. Miller
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Northwestern University , 1800 Sherman Ave., Evanston IL 60201, USA
- Themiya Nanayakkara
- ORCiD
- Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
- Erica J. Nelson
- ORCiD
- Department for Astrophysical and Planetary Science, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80309, USA
- David J. Setton
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , 4 Ivy Ln., Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Heath Shipley
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Texas State University , San Marcos, TX 78666, USA
- Katherine A. Suess
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and Department of Physics, Stanford University , Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad464c
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 967,
no. 2
p. L23
Abstract
We present a measurement of the low-mass quiescent size–mass relation at cosmic noon (1 < z < 3) from the JWST PRIMER and UNCOVER treasury surveys, which highlights two distinct classes of quiescent galaxies. While the massive population is well studied at these redshifts, the low-mass end has been previously underexplored due to a lack of observing facilities with sufficient sensitivity and spatial resolution. We select a conservative sample of low-mass quiescent galaxy candidates using rest-frame UVJ colors and specific star formation rate criteria and measure galaxy morphology in both rest-frame UV/optical wavelengths (F150W) and rest-frame near-infrared (F444W). We confirm an unambiguous flattening of the low-mass quiescent size–mass relation, which results from the separation of the quiescent galaxy sample into two distinct populations at $\mathrm{log}({M}_{\star }/{M}_{\odot })\sim 10.3$ : low-mass quiescent galaxies that are notably younger and have disky structures, and massive galaxies consistent with spheroidal morphologies and older median stellar ages. These separate populations imply mass quenching dominates at the massive end while other mechanisms, such as environmental or feedback-driven quenching, form the low-mass end. This stellar mass-dependent slope of the quiescent size–mass relation could also indicate a shift from size growth due to star formation (low masses) to growth via mergers (massive galaxies). The transition mass between these two populations also corresponds with other dramatic changes and characteristic masses in several galaxy evolution scaling relations (e.g., star formation efficiency, dust obscuration, and stellar-to-halo mass ratios), further highlighting the stark dichotomy between low-mass and massive galaxy formation.
Keywords
