The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)

JADES Ultrared Flattened Objects: Morphologies and Spatial Gradients in Color and Stellar Populations

  • Justus L. Gibson,
  • Erica Nelson,
  • Christina C. Williams,
  • Sedona H. Price,
  • Katherine E. Whitaker,
  • Katherine A. Suess,
  • Anna de Graaff,
  • Benjamin D. Johnson,
  • Andrew J. Bunker,
  • William M. Baker,
  • Rachana Bhatawdekar,
  • Kristan Boyett,
  • Stephane Charlot,
  • Emma Curtis-Lake,
  • Daniel J. Eisenstein,
  • Kevin Hainline,
  • Ryan Hausen,
  • Roberto Maiolino,
  • George Rieke,
  • Marcia Rieke,
  • Brant Robertson,
  • Sandro Tacchella,
  • Chris Willott

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad64c2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 974, no. 1
p. 48

Abstract

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One of the more surprising findings after the first year of JWST observations is the large number of spatially extended galaxies (ultrared flattened objects, or UFOs) among the optically faint galaxy (OFG) population otherwise thought to be compact. Leveraging the depth and survey area of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, we extend observations of the OFG population to an additional 112 objects, 56 of which are well-resolved in F444W with effective sizes, R _e > 0.″25, more than tripling previous UFO counts. These galaxies have redshifts around 2 2 mag even at large radii). Morphologically, the majority of our UFO sample tends to have low Sérsic indices ( n ∼ 1) suggesting that these large, massive, OFGs have little contribution from a bulge in F444W. Further, a majority have axis ratios between 0.2 < q < 0.4, which Bayesian modeling suggests that their intrinsic shapes are consistent with being a mixture of inclined disks and prolate objects with little to no contribution from spheroids. While kinematic constraints will be needed to determine the true intrinsic shapes of UFOs, it is clear that an unexpected population of large, disky or prolate objects contributes significantly to the population of OFGs.

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