The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
PEARLS: Discovery of Point-source Features within Galaxies in the North Ecliptic Pole Time Domain Field
- Rafael Ortiz III,
- Rogier A. Windhorst,
- Seth H. Cohen,
- Steven P. Willner,
- Rolf A. Jansen,
- Timothy Carleton,
- Patrick S. Kamieneski,
- Michael J. Rutkowski,
- Brent M. Smith,
- Jake Summers,
- Cheng Cheng,
- Dan Coe,
- Christopher J. Conselice,
- Jose M. Diego,
- Simon P. Driver,
- Jordan C. J. D’Silva,
- Brenda L. Frye,
- Hansung B. Gim,
- Norman A. Grogin,
- Heidi B. Hammel,
- Nimish P. Hathi,
- Benne W. Holwerda,
- Minhee Hyun,
- Myungshin Im,
- William C. Keel,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Juno Li,
- Madeline A. Marshall,
- Tyler J. McCabe,
- Noah J. McLeod,
- Stefanie N. Milam,
- Rosalia O’Brien,
- Nor Pirzkal,
- Aaron S. G. Robotham,
- Russell E. Ryan Jr.,
- Christopher N. A. Willmer,
- Haojing Yan,
- Min S. Yun,
- Adi Zitrin
Affiliations
- Rafael Ortiz III
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Rogier A. Windhorst
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Seth H. Cohen
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Steven P. Willner
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Rolf A. Jansen
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Timothy Carleton
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Patrick S. Kamieneski
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Michael J. Rutkowski
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Minnesota State University , Mankato, MN 56001, USA
- Brent M. Smith
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Jake Summers
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Cheng Cheng
- ORCiD
- Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy , National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
- Dan Coe
- ORCiD
- AURA for the European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Christopher J. Conselice
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- Jose M. Diego
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC) , Avda. Los Castros s/n. 39005 Santander, Spain
- Simon P. Driver
- ORCiD
- International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the International Space Centre (ISC), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
- Jordan C. J. D’Silva
- ORCiD
- International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the International Space Centre (ISC), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
- Brenda L. Frye
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0009, USA
- Hansung B. Gim
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Montana State University , Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
- Norman A. Grogin
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Heidi B. Hammel
- ORCiD
- Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy , Washington, DC 20004, USA
- Nimish P. Hathi
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Benne W. Holwerda
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Louisville , Natural Science Building 102, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
- Minhee Hyun
- ORCiD
- Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute , Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055, Republic of Korea
- Myungshin Im
- ORCiD
- SNU Astronomy Research Center , Department of Physics & Astronomy, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- William C. Keel
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama , Box 870324, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404, USA
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Juno Li
- ORCiD
- International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the International Space Centre (ISC), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
- Madeline A. Marshall
- ORCiD
- ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia; National Research Council of Canada, Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Centre , 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada
- Tyler J. McCabe
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Noah J. McLeod
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Stefanie N. Milam
- ORCiD
- Astrochemistry Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Rosalia O’Brien
- ORCiD
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA ; [email protected]
- Nor Pirzkal
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Aaron S. G. Robotham
- ORCiD
- International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the International Space Centre (ISC), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
- Russell E. Ryan Jr.
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
- Christopher N. A. Willmer
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0009, USA
- Haojing Yan
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri , Columbia, MO 65211, USA
- Min S. Yun
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- Adi Zitrin
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , P.O. Box 653, Be’er-Sheva 84105, Israel
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad6d5e
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 974,
no. 2
p. 258
Abstract
The first public 0.9–4.4 μ m NIRCam images of the North Ecliptic Pole Time Domain Field uncovered galaxies displaying point-source features in their cores as seen in the longer-wavelength filters. We visually identified a sample of 66 galaxies (∼1 galaxy arcmin ^–2 ) with pointlike cores and have modeled their two-dimensional light profiles with GalFit , identifying 16 galactic nuclei with measurable point-source components. GalFit suggests that the visual sample is a mix of both compact stellar bulge and point-source galaxy cores. This core classification is complemented by spectral energy distribution modeling to infer the sample’s active galactic nucleus (AGN) and host-galaxy parameters. For galaxies with measurable point-source components, the median fractional AGN contribution to their 0.1–30.0 μ m flux is 0.44, and 14/16 are color-classified AGN. We conclude that near-infrared point-source galaxy cores are signatures of AGN. In addition, we define an automated sample-selection criterion to identify these point-source features. This criterion can be used in other extant and future NIRCam images to streamline the search for galaxies with unresolved IR-luminous AGN. The James Webb Space Telescope’s superb angular resolution and sensitivity at infrared wavelengths are resurrecting the morphological identification of AGN.
Keywords
