Search

We present a set of photometric catalogs primarily aimed at providing the community with a comprehensive database for the study of galaxy populations in the high redshift Universe. The set gathers data from eight JWST NIRCam observational programs, targeting the Abell 2744 (GLASS-JWST, UNCOVER, DDT2756 and GO3990), EGS (CEERS), COSMOS and UDS (PRIMER), and GOODS North and South (JADES and NGDEEP) deep fields, for a total area of $\sim$0.2 sq. degrees. Photometric estimates are obtained by means of well-established techniques, including tailored improvements designed to enhance the performance on the specific dataset. We also include new measurements from HST archival data, thus collecting 16 bands spanning from 0.44 to 4.44 $\mu$m. A grand total of $\sim$530 thousand sources is detected on stacks of NIRCam 3.56 and 4.44 $\mu$m mosaics. We assess the photometric accuracy by comparing fluxes and colors against archival catalogs. We also provide photometric redshift estimates, statistically validated against a large set of robust spectroscopic data. The catalogs are publicly available on the Astrodeep website., Comment: 28 pages, 16 figures; submitted to A&A

One of the greatest challenges in galaxy evolution over the last decade has been constraining the prevalence of heavily dust-obscured galaxies in the early Universe. At $z>3$, these galaxies are increasingly rare, and difficult to identify as they are interspersed among the more numerous dust-obscured galaxy population at $z=1-3$, making efforts to secure confident spectroscopic redshifts expensive, and sometimes unsuccessful. In this work, we present the Extended Mapping Obscuration to Reionization with ALMA (Ex-MORA) Survey -- a 2mm blank-field survey in the COSMOS-Web field, and the largest ever ALMA blank-field survey to-date covering 577 arcmin$^2$. Ex-MORA is an expansion of the MORA survey designed to identify primarily $z>3$ dusty, star-forming galaxies while simultaneously filtering out the more numerous $z<3$ population by leveraging the very negative $K$-correction at observed-frame 2mm. We identify 37 significant ($>$5$\sigma$) sources, 33 of which are robust thermal dust emitters. We measure a median redshift of $\langle z \rangle = 3.6^{+0.1}_{-0.2}$, with two-thirds of the sample at $z>3$, and just under half at $z>4$, demonstrating the overall success of the 2mm-selection technique. The integrated $z>3$ volume density of Ex-MORA sources is $\sim1-3\times10^{-5}$ Mpc$^{-3}$, consistent with other surveys of infrared luminous galaxies at similar epochs. We also find that techniques using rest-frame optical emission (or lack thereof) to identify $z>3$ heavily dust-obscured galaxies miss at least half of Ex-MORA galaxies. This supports the idea that the dusty galaxy population is heterogeneous, and that synergies across observatories spanning multiple energy regimes are critical to understanding their formation and evolution at $z>3$., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJ; fully reduced mosaic will be shared upon publication

We present the most detailed spectrum of the intracluster light (ICL) in an individual cluster to date, the relaxed system RX J2129.7+0005, at $z\sim 0.234$. Using 15 broad-band, deep images observed with HST and JWST in the optical and the infrared, plus deep integral field spectroscopy from MUSE, we computed a total of 3696 ICL maps spanning the spectral range $\sim 0.4-5$ $\mu$m with our algorithm CICLE, a method that is extremely well suited to analyzing large samples of data in a fully automated way. We used both parametric and non-parametric approaches to fit the spectral energy distribution of the ICL and infer its physical properties, yielding a stellar mass $log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot})$ between $11.5-12.7$ and an average age between $9.7-10.5$ Gyr, from CIGALE and Prospector results. This implies that the ICL in RX J2129.7+0005 is, on average, older than that of disturbed clusters, suggesting that the contribution from different stellar populations to the ICL are at play depending on the cluster's dynamical state. Coupled with X-ray observations of the hot gas distribution, we confirm the relaxed state of RX J2129.7+0005, showing clear signs of sloshing after a last major merger with a high-mass ratio satellite that could have happened $\sim 6.6$ Gyr ago in a relatively radial orbit. The presence of substructure in the ICL, such as shells, clouds with different densities and a certain degree of boxyness, and a clump, supports this scenario., Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

Combining Chandra, ALMA, EVLA, and Hubble Space Telescope archival data and newly acquired APO/DIS spectroscopy, we detect a double-lobed 17~kpc X-ray emission with plumes oriented approximately perpendicular and parallel to the galactic plane of the massive lenticular galaxy NGC\,5084 at 0.3--2.0~keV. We detect a highly inclined ($i=71.2^{+1.8\circ}_{-1.7}$), molecular circumnuclear disk ($D=304^{+10}_{-11}$ pc) in the core of the galaxy rotating (V$^{\rm (2-1) CO}_{\rm rot}=242.7^{+9.6}_{-6.4}$ km s$^{-1}$) in a direction perpendicular to that of the galactic disk, implying a total mass of $\log_{10}\left( \frac{M_{\rm BH}}{M_{\odot}} \right) = 7.66^{+0.21}_{-0.15}$ for NGC\,5084's supermassive black hole. Archival EVLA radio observations at 6 cm and 20 cm reveal two symmetric radio lobes aligned with the galactic plane, extending to a distance of $\overline{R}=4.6\pm0.6$ kpc from the core, oriented with the polar axis of the circumnuclear disk. The spectral energy distribution lacks strong emission lines in the optical range. Three formation scenarios are considered to explain these multi-wavelength archival observations: 1) AGN re-orientation caused by accretion of surrounding material, 2) AGN-driven hot gas outflow directed along the galactic minor axis, or 3) a starburst / supernovae driven outflow at the core of the galaxy. This discovery is enabled by new imaging analysis tools including \SAUNAS\ (Selective Amplification of Ultra Noisy Astronomical Signal), demonstrating the abundance of information still to be exploited in the vast and growing astronomical archives., Comment: Submitted to ApJ in May 21st 2024, in revision. 26 pages, 14 figures

We present the properties of two candidate massive ($M_\star\sim10^{11}M_\odot$) and dusty ($A_{\rm v}>2.5$ mag) galaxies at $z=5-7$ in the first 0.28 deg$^2$ of the COSMOS-Web survey. One object is spectroscopically confirmed at $z_{\rm spec}=5.051$, while the other has a robust $z_{\rm phot}=6.7\pm0.3$. Thanks to their extremely red colors ($F277W-F444W\sim1.7$ mag), these galaxies satisfy the nominal color-selection for the widely-studied ``little red dot" (LRD) population with the exception of their spatially-resolved morphologies. The morphology of our targets allows us to conclude that their red continuum is dominated by highly obscured stellar emission and not by reddened nuclear activity. Using a variety of SED-fitting tools and star formation histories, we estimate the stellar masses to be $\log(M_\star)=11.32^{+0.07}_{-0.15}$ $M_\odot$ and $\log(M_\star)=11.2^{+0.1}_{-0.2}$ $M_\odot$, respectively, with a red continuum emission dominated by a recent episode of star formation. We then compare their number density to the halo mass function to infer stellar baryon fractions of $\epsilon_\star\sim0.25$ and $\epsilon_\star\sim0.5$. Both are significantly higher than what is commonly observed in lower-z galaxies or more dust-obscured galaxies at similar redshifts. With very bright ultra-high-z Lyman-Break Galaxies and some non-AGN dominated LRDs, such ``extended" LRDs represent another population that may require very efficient star formation at early times., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJL

JWST has enabled detecting and spatially resolving the heavily dust-attenuated stellar populations of sub-millimeter galaxies, revealing detail that was previously inaccessible. In this work we construct a sample of 289 sub-millimeter galaxies with detailed joint ALMA and JWST constraints in the COSMOS field. Sources are originally selected using the SCUBA-2 instrument and have archival ALMA observations from various programs. Their JWST NIRCam imaging is from COSMOS-Web and PRIMER. We extract multi-wavelength photometry in a manner that leverages the unprecedented near-infrared spatial resolution of JWST, and fit the data with spectral energy distribution models to derive photometric redshifts, stellar masses, star-formation rates and optical attenuation. The sample has an average z=2.6, A_V=2.5, SFR=270 and log(M*)=11.1. There are 81 (30%) galaxies that have no previous optical/near-infrared detections, including 75% of the z>4 sub-sample (n=28). The faintest observed near-infrared sources have the highest redshifts and largest A_V=4. In a preliminary morphology analysis we find that ~10% of our sample exhibit spiral arms and 5% host stellar bars, with one candidate bar found at z>3. Finally, we find that the clustering of JWST galaxies within 10 arcseconds of a sub-mm galaxy is a factor of 2 greater than what is expected based on either random clustering or the distribution of sources around any red galaxy irrespective of a sub-mm detection., Comment: 37 pages (15 for RGBs + references), 14 figures, submitted to ApJ

We present dynamical modeling of the broad-line region (BLR) for the highly variable AGN SDSS J141041.25+531849.0 ($z = 0.359$) using photometric and spectroscopic monitoring data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping project and the SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper program, spanning from early 2013 to early 2023. We model the geometry and kinematics of the BLR in the H$\beta$, H$\alpha$, and MgII, emission lines for three different time periods to measure the potential change of structure within the BLR across time and line species. We consistently find a moderately edge-on $(i_{\rm full-state} = 53.29^{\circ} \,{}^{+7.29}_{-6.55})$ thick-disk $(\theta_{\rm opn, \; full-state} = 54.86^{\circ} \,{}^{+5.83}_{-4.74})$ geometry for all BLRs, with a joint estimate for the mass of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) for each of three time periods, yielding $\log_{10}(M_{\rm BH} / M_{\odot}) = 7.66^{+0.12}_{-0.13}$ when using the full dataset. The inferred individual virial factor $f$ $\sim 1$ is significantly smaller than the average factor for a local sample of dynamically modeled AGNs. There is strong evidence for non-virial motion, with over $80\%$ of clouds on inflowing/outflowing orbits. We analyze the change in model parameters across emission lines, finding the radii of BLRs for the emission lines are consistent with the following relative sizes $R_{\rm H\beta} \lesssim R_{\rm MgII } \lesssim R_{\rm H\alpha}$. Comparing results across time, we find $R_{\rm low-state} \lesssim R_{\rm high-state}$, with the change in BLR size for H$\beta$, being more significant than for the other two lines. The data also reveal complex, time-evolving, and potentially transient dynamics of the BLR gas over decade-long timescales, encouraging for future dynamical modeling of fine-scale BLR kinematics., Comment: 32 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to ApJ

A crucial yet challenging task in galaxy evolution studies is the identification of distant merging galaxies, a task which suffers from a variety of issues ranging from telescope sensitivities and limitations to the inherently chaotic morphologies of young galaxies. In this paper, we use random forests and convolutional neural networks to identify high-redshift JWST CEERS galaxy mergers. We train these algorithms on simulated $3

We present a detailed JWST/NIRSpec and NIRCam analysis of a gravitationally-lensed galaxy ($\rm \mu=17-21$) at redshift 6.14 magnified by the Hubble Frontier Field galaxy cluster MACS J0416. The target galaxy is overall a typical compact and UV-faint ($\rm M_{UV}=-17.8$) Lyman-$\alpha$ emitter; yet, the large magnification allows the detailed characterisation of structures on sub-galactic (down to few parsec) scales. Prominent optical $\rm H\alpha$, $\rm H\beta$ and [OIII]$\lambda\lambda4959,5007$ lines are spatially resolved with the high spectral resolution grating (G395H, R~2700), with large equivalent widths, EW($\rm H\beta$+[OIII])$\gtrsim1000$ \AA, and elevated ionising photon production efficiencies $\rm log(\xi_{ion}/erg^{-1}Hz)=25.2-25.7$. NIRCam deep imaging reveals the presence of compact rest-UV bright regions along with individual star clusters of sizes $\rm R_{eff}=3-8~pc$ and masses $\rm M\sim2\cdot10^5-5\cdot10^{6}~M_\odot$ These clusters are characterised by steep UV slopes, $\rm\beta_{UV}\lesssim-2.5$, in some cases associated with a dearth of line emission, indicating possible leaking of the ionising radiation, as also supported by a Lyman-$\rm \alpha$ emission peaking at $\rm \sim100~km~s^{-1}$ from the systemic redshift. While the entire system is characterised by low-metallicity, $\sim0.1~Z_\odot$, the NIRSpec-IFU map also reveals the presence of a low-luminosity, metal-poor region with $\rm Z\lesssim2\%~Z_\odot$, barely detected in NIRCam imaging; this region is displaced by $\rm >200~pc$ from one of the UV brightest structures of the system, and it would have been too faint to detect if not for the large magnification of the system., Comment: 19 pages (11 figures, 2 tables) + appendix (3 pages, 4 figures, 1 table). Submitted to A&A; comments are welcome

We report the serendipitous discovery of a faint (M_UV > -12.2), low-metallicity (Z ~ 0.02 Zsun), ionizing source (dubbed T2c) with a spectroscopic redshift of z=6.146. T2c is part of a larger structure amplified by the Hubble Frontier Field galaxy cluster MACSJ0416, and was observed with JWST/NIRSpec IFU. Stacking the short-wavelength NIRCam data reveals no stellar continuum detection down to a magnitude limit of m_UV ~ 31.0 (3 sigma). However, prominent Hb, [OIII]4959,5007, and Ha emissions are detected, with equivalent widths exceeding 200A, 800A, and 1300A (3 sigma), respectively. The corresponding intrinsic (magnification-corrected x23 +/- 3) ultraviolet and optical rest-frame magnitudes exceed 34.4 and 33.9 (corresponding to M_uv and M_opt fainter than -12.2 and -12.8, at lambda_rest ~ 2000A and ~5000A, respectively), suggesting a stellar mass lower than a few 10^4 Msun under an instantaneous burst scenario. The inferred ionizing photon production efficiency (xi_ion) is high, xi_ion >~ 26.08(25.86) 3(5)sigma, assuming no dust attenuation and no Lyman continuum leakage, indicating the presence of massive stars despite the low mass of the object. The very poor sampling of the initial mass function at such low mass star-forming complex suggests that the formation of very massive stars might be favored in very low metallicity environments. T2c is surrounded by Balmer and weak oxygen emission on a spatial scale of a few hundred parsecs after correcting for lensing effects. This system resembles an HII region potentially powered by currently undetected, extremely efficient, low-metallicity star complexes or clusters. We propose that massive O-type stars populate this low-mass and metallicity high-redshift satellites, likely caught in an early and short formation phase, contributing to the ionization of the surrounding medium., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Submitted to A&A. Comments are welcome

The majority of low-mass ($\log_{10} M_*/M_{\odot}=9-10$) galaxies at high redshift ($z>1$) appear elongated in projection. We use JWST-CEERS observations to explore the role of gravitational lensing in this puzzle. The typical galaxy-galaxy lensing shear $\gamma\sim1\%$ is too low to explain the predominance of elongated early galaxies with ellipticity $e\approx0.6$. However, non-parametric quantile regression with Bayesian Additive Regression Trees reveals hints of an excess of tangentially-aligned source-lens pairs with $\gamma>10\%$. On larger scales, we also find evidence for weak lensing shear. We rule out the null hypothesis of randomly oriented galaxies at $\gtrsim99\%$ significance in multiple NIRCam chips, modules and pointings. The number of such regions is small and attributable to chance, but coherent alignment patterns suggest otherwise. On the chip scale, the average complex ellipticity $\langle e\rangle\sim10\%$ is non-negligible and beyond the level of our PSF uncertainties. The shear variance $\langle\overline{\gamma}^2\rangle\sim10^{-3}$ is an order of magnitude above the conventional weak lensing regime but is more sensitive to PSF systematics, intrinsic alignments, cosmic variance and other biases. Taking it as an upper limit, the maximum implied ``cosmic shear'' is only a few percent and cannot explain the elongated shapes of early galaxies. The alignments themselves may arise from lensing by a protocluster or filament at $z\sim0.75$ where we find an overabundance of massive lens galaxies. We recommend a weak lensing search for overdensities in ``blank'' deep fields with JWST and the Roman Space Telescope., Comment: Submitted to ApJ, main body is 26 pages with 18 figures, comments welcome

Strong gravitational lensing magnifies the light from a background source, allowing us to study these sources in detail. Here, we study the spectra of a $z = 1.95$ lensed Type Ia supernova SN~Encore for its brightest Image A, taken 39 days apart. We infer the spectral age with template matching using the supernova identification (SNID) software and find the spectra to be at 29.0 $\pm 5.0$ and 37.4 $\pm 2.8$ rest-frame days post maximum respectively, consistent with separation in the observer frame after accounting for time-dilation. Since SNe~Ia measure dark energy properties by providing relative distances between low- and high-$z$ SNe, it is important to test for evolution of spectroscopic properties. Comparing the spectra to composite low-$z$ SN~Ia spectra, we find strong evidence for similarity between the local sample of SN~Encore. The line velocities of common SN~Ia spectral lines, Si II 6355 and Ca II NIR triplet are consistent with the distribution for the low-$z$ sample as well as other lensed SNe~Ia, e.g. iPTF16geu ($z = 0.409$) and SN~H0pe ($z = 1.78$). The consistency in SN~Ia spectra across cosmic time demonstrates the utility of using SNe~Ia in the very high-$z$ universe for dark energy inference. We also find that the spectra of SN~Encore match the predictions for explosion models very well. With future large samples of lensed SNe~Ia, spectra at such late phases will be important to distinguish between different explosion scenarios., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome

We present in this paper the discovery, properties, and a catalog of 1165 high redshift $6.5 < z < 18$ galaxies found in deep JWST NIRCam imaging from the GTO PEARLS survey combined with data from JWST public fields. We describe our bespoke homogeneous reduction process and our analysis of these areas including the NEP, CEERS, GLASS, NGDEEP, JADES, and ERO SMACS-0723 fields with over 214 arcmin$^{2}$ imaged to depths of $\sim 30$ mag. We describe our rigorous methods for identifying these galaxies, involving the use of Lyman-break strength, detection significance criteria, visual inspection, and integrated photometric redshifts probability distributions predominately at high redshift. Our sample is a robust and highly pure collection of distant galaxies from which we also remove brown dwarf stars, and calculate completeness and contamination from simulations. We include a summary of the basic properties of these $z > 6.5$ galaxies, including their redshift distributions, UV absolute magnitudes, and star formation rates. Our study of these young galaxies reveals a wide range of stellar population properties as seen in their colors and SED fits which we compare to stellar population models, indicating a range of star formation histories, dust, AGN and/or nebular emission. We find a strong trend exists between stellar mass and $(U-V)$ color, as well as the existence of the `main-sequence' of star formation for galaxies as early as $z \sim 12$. This indicates that stellar mass, or an underlying variable correlating with stellar mass, is driving galaxy formation, in agreement with simulation predictions. We also discover ultra-high redshift candidates at $z > 12$ in our sample and describe their properties. Finally, we note a significant observed excess of galaxies compared to models at $z > 12$, revealing a tension between predictions and our observations., Comment: Submitted to AAS Journals, 37 pages

We present new JWST/NIRSpec IFU observations of the J1000+0234 system at $z=4.54$, the dense core of a galaxy protocluster hosting a massive, dusty star forming galaxy (DSFG) with a low luminosity radio counterpart. The new data reveals two extended, high equivalent width (EW$_0 > 1000$ {\AA}) nebulae at each side of the DSFG disk along its minor axis (namely O3-N and O3-S). On one hand, O3-N's spectrum shows a prominent FWHM $\sim1300$ km s$^{-1}$ broad and blueshifted component, suggesting an outflow origin. On the other hand, O3-S stretches over parsec and has a velocity gradient that spans $800$ km s$^{-1}$ but no evidence of a broad component. Both sources, however, seem to be powered at least partially by an active galactic nucleus (AGN), so we classify them as extended emission-line regions (EELRs). The strongest evidence comes from the detection of the high-ionization [Ne V] $\lambda3427$ line toward O3-N, which paired with the non-detection of hard X-rays implies an obscuring column density above the Compton-thick regime. In O3-S, the [Ne V] line is not detected, but we measure a He II well above the expectation for star formation. We interpret this as O3-S being externally irradiated by the AGN, akin to the famous Hanny's Voorwerp object in the local Universe. In addition, more classical line ratio diagnostics (e.g. [O III]/H$\beta$ vs [N II]/H$\alpha$) put the DSFG itself in the AGN region of the diagrams, and hence the most probable host of the AGN. These results showcase the ability of JWST of unveiling highly obscured AGN at high redshifts., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures plus 5 appendices (incl. 3 extra figures and one table). Submitted to A&A on July 17th 2024

(abridged)Photometric redshifts for AGN (galaxies hosting an accreting supermassive black hole in their center) are notoriously challenging and currently better computed via SED fitting, assuming that deep photometry for many wavelengths is available. However, for AGN detected all-sky, the photometry is limited and provided by different projects. This makes the task of homogenising the data challenging and is a dramatic drawback for the millions of AGN that wide surveys like SRG/eROSITA will detect. This work aims to compute reliable photometric redshifts for X-ray-detected AGN using only one dataset that covers a large area: the 10th Data Release of the Imaging Legacy Survey (LS10) for DESI. LS10 provides deep grizW1-W4 forced photometry within various apertures, thus avoids issues related to the cross-calibration of surveys. We present the results from CircleZ, a machine-learning algorithm based on a Fully Connected Neural Network. CircleZ uses training sample of 14,000 X-ray-detected AGN and utilizes multi-aperture photometry. The accuracy and the fraction of outliers reached in a test sample of 2913 AGN are 0.067 and 11.6%, respectively. The results are comparable to or better than those obtained previously for the same field but with much less effort. We further tested the stability of the results by computing the photometric redshifts for the sources detected in CSC2 and Chandra-COSMOS Legacy, reaching comparable accuracy as in eFEDS when limiting the magnitude of the counterparts with respect to the depth of LS10. The method applies to fainter samples of AGN using deeper optical data from future surveys (e.g., LSST, Euclid), granted LS10-like information on the light distribution beyond a morphological type is provided. With the paper, we release an updated version of the photometric redshifts (including errors and probability distribution function) for eROSITA/eFEDS., Comment: A&A, paper accepted

We present a full analysis of galaxy major merger pair fractions, merger rates, and mass accretion rates, thus uncovering the role of mergers in galaxy formation at the earliest previously unexplored epoch of $4.5

Photometric redshifts are widely used in studies of dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs), but catastrophic photo-$z$ failure can undermine all redshift-dependent results. Here we report the spectroscopic redshift confirmation of COSBO-7, a strongly lensed DSFG in the COSMOS-PRIMER field. Recently, using 10 bands of JWST NIRCam and MIRI imaging data on COSBO-7, Ling et al. (2024) reported a photometric redshift solution of $z\gtrsim7.0$, favored by four independent spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting codes, and therefore providing an appealing candidate of the most distant massive DSFG. This photo-$z$ solution was also supported by a single line detection in ALMA Band 3 consistent with CO(7-6) at $z=7.46$. However, our new ALMA observations robustly detect two lines in Band 6 identified as CO(7-6) and [CI](2-1) at $z_{\rm spec}=2.625$, and thus the Band 3 line as CO(3-2). The three robust line detections decidedly place COSBO-7 at $z=2.625$, refuting the photo-$z$ solution. We derive physical parameters by fitting NIR-to-mm photometry and lens modeling, revealing that COSBO-7 is a main-sequence galaxy. We examine possible reasons for this photo-$z$ failure and attribute it to (1) the likely underestimation of photometric uncertainty at 0.9$\mu$m, and (2) the lack of photometry at wavelengths beyond 20$\mu$m. Notably, we recover a bona-fide $z_{\rm phot}\sim 2.3$ by including the existing MIPS $24\mu$m photometry, demonstrating the critical importance of mid-infrared data for photo-$z$ robustness. This work highlights a common challenge in modeling SEDs of DSFGs, cautioning against the reliability of photometric redshifts, as well as pseudo-spectroscopic redshifts based on single line detection., Comment: Submitted to A&A Letter

We present the number densities and physical properties of the bright galaxies spectroscopically confirmed at $z\sim7-14$. Our sample is composed of 53 galaxies at $z_\mathrm{spec}\sim7-14$, including recently-confirmed galaxies at $z_\mathrm{spec}=12.34-14.32$ with JWST, as well as new confirmations at $z_\mathrm{spec}=6.583-7.643$ with $-24< M_\mathrm{UV}< -21$ mag using ALMA and Keck. Our JWST/NIRSpec observations have also revealed that very bright galaxy candidates at $z\sim10-13$ identified from ground-based telescope images before JWST are passive galaxies at $z\sim3-4$, emphasizing the necessity of strict screening and spectroscopy in the selection of the brightest galaxies at $z>10$. The UV luminosity functions derived from these spectroscopic results are consistent with a double power-law function, showing tensions with theoretical models at the bright end. To understand the origin of the overabundance of bright galaxies, we investigate their morphologies using JWST/NIRCam high-resolution images obtained in various surveys including PRIMER and COSMOS-Web. We find that $\sim70\%$ of the bright galaxies at $z\sim7$ exhibit clumpy morphologies with multiple sub-components, suggesting merger-induced starburst activity, which is consistent with SED fitting results showing bursty star formation histories. At $z\gtrsim10$, bright galaxies are classified into two types of galaxies; extended ones with weak high-ionization emission lines, and compact ones with strong high-ionization lines including NIV]$\lambda$1486, indicating that at least two different processes (e.g., merger-induced starburst and compact star formation/AGN) are shaping the physical properties of the brightest galaxies at $z\gtrsim10$ and are responsible for their overabundance., Comment: 32 pages, 22 figures, submitted to ApJ

Using deep imaging from the CANDELS and HFF surveys, we present bulge+disc decompositions with GalfitM for $\sim$17,000 galaxies over $0.2 \leq z\leq 1.5$. We use various model parameters to select reliable samples of discs and bulges, and derive their stellar masses using an empirically calibrated relation between mass-to-light ratio and colour. Across our entire redshift range, we show that discs follow stellar mass-size relations that are consistent with those of star-forming galaxies, suggesting that discs primarily evolve via star formation. In contrast, the stellar mass-size relations of bulges are mass-independent. Our novel dataset further enables us to separate components into star-forming and quiescent based on their specific star formation rates. We find that both star-forming discs and star-forming bulges lie on stellar mass-size relations that are similar to those of star-forming galaxies, while quiescent discs are typically smaller than star-forming discs and lie on steeper relations, implying distinct evolutionary mechanisms. Similar to quiescent galaxies, quiescent bulges show a flattening in the stellar mass-size relation at $\sim$10$^{10}$M$_\odot$, below which they show little mass dependence. However, their best-fitting relations have lower normalisations, indicating that at a given mass, bulges are smaller than quiescent galaxies. Finally, we obtain rest-frame colours for individual components, showing that bulges typically have redder colours than discs, as expected. We visually derive UVJ criteria to separate star-forming and quiescent components and show that this separation agrees well with component colour. HFF bulge+disc decomposition catalogues used for these analyses are publicly released with this paper., Comment: 30 pages, 18 figures, and 6 tables. Resubmitted to MNRAS after addressing a thorough and constructive referee report

The stellar structures of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) undergo significant size growth during their mass assembly and must pass through a compaction phase as they evolve into quiescent galaxies (QGs). To shed light on the mechanisms behind this structural evolution, we study the morphology of the star-forming components of 665 SFGs at 010^{10.5}M_\odot$). The compact star-forming components of these galaxies are also concentrated and slightly spheroidal, suggesting that this compaction phase can build dense bulge in-situ. Finally, we identify a third population of SFGs (19%), with both compact stellar and star-forming components. The density of their stellar cores resemble those of QGs and are compatible with being the descendants of EC galaxy. Overall, the structural evolution of SFGs is mainly dominated by a secular inside-out growth, which can, however, be interrupted by violent compaction phase(s) that can build dominant stellar bulges like those in massive SFGs or QGs., Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures, submitted to A&A, comments are welcome

JWST has revealed a population of compact and extremely red galaxies at $z>4$, which likely host active galactic nuclei (AGN). We present a sample of 434 ``little red dots'' (LRDs), selected from the 0.54 deg$^2$ COSMOS-Web survey. We fit galaxy and AGN SED models to derive redshifts and physical properties; the sample spans $z\sim5$-$9$ after removing brown dwarf contaminants. We consider two extreme physical scenarios: either LRDs are all AGN, and their continuum emission is dominated by the accretion disk, or they are all compact star-forming galaxies, and their continuum is dominated by stars. If LRDs are AGN-dominated, our sample exhibits bolometric luminosities $\sim10^{45-47}$ erg\,s$^{-1}$, spanning the gap between JWST AGN in the literature and bright, rare quasars. We derive a bolometric luminosity function (LF) $\sim100$ times the (UV-selected) quasar LF, implying a non-evolving black hole accretion density of $\sim10^{-4}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ from $z\sim2$-$9$. By contrast, if LRDs are dominated by star formation, we derive stellar masses $\sim10^{8.5-10}\,M_\odot$. MIRI/F770W is key to deriving accurate stellar masses; without it, we derive a mass function inconsistent with $\Lambda$CDM. The median stellar mass profile is broadly consistent with the maximal stellar mass surface densities seen in the nearby universe, though the most massive $\sim50$\% of objects exceed this limit, requiring substantial AGN contribution to the continuum. Nevertheless, stacking all available X-ray, mid-IR, far-IR/sub-mm, and radio data yields non-detections. Whether dominated by dusty AGN, compact star-formation, or both, the high masses/luminosities and remarkable abundance of LRDs implies a dominant mode of early galaxy/SMBH growth., Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures. Submitted to ApJ, comments welcome! Data access at https://github.com/hollisakins/akins24_cw

We present results from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) spectral line-scan observations at 3-mm and 2-mm bands of three near-infrared-dark (NIR-dark) galaxies behind two massive lensing clusters MACS J0417.5-1154 and RXC J0032.1+1808. Each of these three sources is a faint (de-lensed $S_{\text{1.2 mm}}$ $<$ 1 mJy) triply lensed system originally discovered in the ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey. We have successfully detected CO and [C I] emission lines and confirmed that their spectroscopic redshifts are $z=3.652$, 2.391, and 2.985. By utilizing a rich multi-wavelength data set, we find that the NIR-dark galaxies are located on the star formation main sequence in the intrinsic stellar mass range of log ($M_*$/$M_\odot$) = 9.8 - 10.4, which is about one order of magnitude lower than that of typical submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). These NIR-dark galaxies show a variety in gas depletion times and spatial extent of dust emission. One of the three is a normal star-forming galaxy with gas depletion time consistent with a scaling relation, and its infrared surface brightness is an order of magnitude smaller than that of typical SMGs. Since this galaxy has an elongated axis ratio of $\sim 0.17$, we argue that normal star-forming galaxies in an edge-on configuration can be heavily dust-obscured. This implies that existing deep WFC3/F160W surveys may miss a fraction of typical star-forming main-sequence galaxies due to their edge-on orientation., Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, Submitted to ApJ

We present the results of an investigation of a highly variable CIV broad absorption-line feature in the quasar SBS 1408+544 (z=2.337) that shows a significant shift in velocity over time. This source was observed as a part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project and the SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping Project, and has been included in two previous studies, both of which identified significant variability in a high-velocity CIV broad absorption line (BAL) on timescales of just a few days in the quasar rest frame. Using ~130 spectra acquired over eight years of spectroscopic monitoring with SDSS, we have determined that this BAL is not only varying in strength, but is also systematically shifting to higher velocities. Using cross-correlation methods, we measure the velocity shifts (and corresponding acceleration) of the BAL on a wide range of timescales, measuring an overall velocity shift of delta v = -683 (+89, -84) km s-1 over the 8-year monitoring period. This corresponds to an average rest-frame acceleration of a=1.04 (+0.14, -0.13) cm s-2, though the magnitude of the acceleration on shorter timescales is not constant throughout. We place our measurements in the context of BAL-acceleration models and examine various possible causes of the observed velocity shift., Comment: Published in the Astrophysical Journal

New JWST/NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy provides redshifts for four z>8 galaxies located behind the lensing cluster MACS J0416.1-2403. Two of them, "Y1" and "JD", have previously reported spectroscopic redshifts based on ALMA measurements of [OIII] 88 $\mu$m and/or [CII] 157.7 $\mu$m lines. Y1 is a merging system of three components, and the existing redshift z=8.31 is confirmed. However, JD is at z=8.34 instead of the previously claimed z=9.28. JD's close companion, "JD-N", which was a previously discovered z>8 candidate, is now identified at the same redshift as JD. JD and JD-N form an interacting pair. A new candidate at z>8, "f090d_018", is also confirmed and is at z=8.49. These four objects are likely part of an overdensity that signposts a large structure extending ~165 kpc in projected distance and ~48.7 Mpc in radial distance. They are magnified by less than one magnitude and have intrinsic $M_{UV}$ ranging from -19.57 to -20.83 mag. Their spectral energy distributions show that the galaxies are all very young with ages ~ 4-18 Myr and stellar masses about $10^{7-8}$ ${\rm M_\odot}$. These infant galaxies have very different star formation rates ranging from a few to over a hundred $\rm{M_\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, but only two of them (JD and f090d_018) have blue rest-frame UV slopes $\beta<-2.0$ indicative of a high Lyman-continuum photon escape fraction that could contribute significantly to the cosmic hydrogen-reionizing background. Interestingly, these two galaxies are the least massive and least active ones among the four. The other two systems have much flatter UV slopes largely because of their high dust extinction ($A_{\rm V}$=0.9-1.0 mag). Their much lower indicated escape fractions show that even very young, actively star-forming galaxies can have negligible contribution to reionization when they quickly form dust throughout their bodies., Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, after addressing the referee report

We present an analysis of rest-frame UV colors of 17,243 galaxies at $z\sim2-4$ in the HST UVCANDELS fields: GOODS-N, GOODS-S, COSMOS, and EGS. Here, we study the rest-frame UV spectral slope, $\beta$, measured via model spectra obtained via spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, $\beta_{SED}$, and explore its correlation with various galaxy parameters (photometric redshift, UV magnitude, stellar mass, dust attenuation, star formation rate [SFR], and specific SFR) obtained via SED fitting with Dense Basis. We also obtain measurements for $\beta$ via photometric power-law fitting and compare them to our SED-fit-based results, finding good agreement on average. While we find little evolution in $\beta$ with redshift from $z=2-4$ for the full population, there are clear correlations between $\beta$ (and related parameters) when binned by stellar mass. For this sample, lower stellar mass galaxies (log[$M_*$] = 7.5-8.5 $M_\odot$) are typically bluer ($\beta_{SED}=-2.0\pm 0.2$ / $\beta_{PL} = -2.1\pm0.4$), fainter ($MUV = -17.8^{+0.7}_{-0.6}$) less dusty ($A{v}=0.4\pm0.1$ mag), exhibit lower rates of star formation (log[SFR]=$0.1\pm0.2 M_\odot/$ yr) and higher specific star formation rates (log[sSFR]=$-8.2\pm0.2 \ \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$) than their high-mass counterparts. Higher-mass galaxies (log[$M_*$] $=10.0-12.0 \ M_\odot$) are on average redder ($\beta_{SED}=-0.9^{+0.8}_{-0.5}$ / $\beta_{PL}=-1.0^{+0.8}_{-0.5}$), brighter ($MUV=-19.6^{+1.0}_{-1.2}$), dustier ($Av = 0.9^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$ mag), have higher SFRs (log[SFR]=$1.2^{+0.6}_{-1.1} M_\odot$ yr), and lower sSFRs (log[sSFR]=$-9.1^{+0.5}_{-1.1} {yr}^{-1}$). This study's substantial sample size provides a benchmark for demonstrating that the rest-frame UV spectral slope correlates with stellar mass-dependent galaxy characteristics at $z\sim2-4$, a relationship less discernible with smaller datasets typically available at higher redshifts., Comment: 16 pages, 5 tables, 6 figures, submitted to ApJ

In this paper we describe our search for galaxy protocluster candidates at $4.5< z < 10$ and explore the environmental and physical properties of their member galaxies identified through JWST wide-field surveys within the CEERS, JADES, and PEARLS NEP-TDF fields. Combining with HST data, we identify 2948 robust $z>4.5$ candidates within an area of 185.4 arcmin$^2$. We determine nearest neighbour statistics and galaxy environments. We find that high-$z$ galaxies in overdense environments exhibit higher star formation activity compared to those in underdense regions. Galaxies in dense environments have a slightly increased SFR at a given mass compared with galaxies in the lower density environments. At the high mass end we also find a gradual flattening of the $M_{\star}$-SFR slope. We find that galaxies in high-density regions often have redder UV slopes than those in low-density regions, suggesting more dust extinction, weaker Lyman-alpha emission and / or a higher damped Lyman-alpha absorption. We also find that the mass-size relation remains consistent and statistically similar across all environments. Furthermore, we quantitatively assess the probability of a galaxy belonging to a protocluster candidate. In total, we identified 26 overdensities at $z=5-7$ and estimate their dark matter halo masses. We find that all protocluster candidates could evolve into clusters with $M_{\rm halo} > 10^{14}M_{\odot}$ at $z = 0$, thereby supporting the theoretical and simulation predictions of cluster formation. Notably, this marks an early search for protocluster candidates in JWST wide field based on photometric data, providing valuable candidates to study cosmic structure formation at the early stages., Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures and 7 table, submitted to MNRAS

We use the Ultraviolet Imaging of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey fields (UVCANDELS) to measure half-light radii in the rest-frame far-UV for $\sim$16,000 disk-like galaxies over $0.5\leq z \leq 3$. We compare these results to rest-frame optical sizes that we measure in a self-consistent way and find that the stellar mass-size relation of disk galaxies is steeper in the rest-frame UV than in the optical across our entire redshift range. We show that this is mainly driven by massive galaxies ($\gtrsim10^{10}$M$_\odot$), which we find to also be among the most dusty. Our results are consistent with the literature and have commonly been interpreted as evidence of inside-out growth wherein galaxies form their central structures first. However, they could also suggest that the centers of massive galaxies are more heavily attenuated than their outskirts. We distinguish between these scenarios by modeling and selecting galaxies at $z=2$ from the VELA simulation suite in a way that is consistent with UVCANDELS. We show that the effects of dust alone can account for the size differences we measure at $z=2$. This indicates that, at different wavelengths, size differences and the different slopes of the stellar mass-size relation do not constitute evidence for inside-out growth., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 22 pages, 12 figures, and 4 tables

We study of the role of galaxy-galaxy interactions and disk instabilities in producing starburst activity in galaxies out to z=4. For this, we use a sample of 387 galaxies with robust total star formation rate measurements from Herschel, gas masses from ALMA, stellar masses and redshifts from multi-band photometry, and JWST/NIRCam rest-frame optical imaging. Using mass-controlled samples, we find an increased fraction of interacting galaxies in the starburst regime at all redshifts out to z=4. This increase correlates with star formation efficiency (SFE), but not with gas fraction. However, the correlation is weak (and only significant out to z=2), which could be explained by the short duration of SFE increase during interaction. In addition, we find that isolated disk galaxies make up a significant fraction of the starburst population. The fraction of such galaxies with star-forming clumps ("clumpy disks") is significantly increased compared to the main-sequence disk population. Furthermore, this fraction directly correlates with SFE. This is direct observational evidence for a long-term increase of SFE maintained due to disk instabilities, contributing to the majority of starburst galaxies in our sample and hence to substantial mass growth in these systems. This result could also be of importance for explaining the growth of the most massive galaxies at z>6., Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to ApJ. Comments welcome

Dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) contribute significantly to the stellar buildup at cosmic noon. Major mergers and gas accretion are often invoked to explain DSFGs' prodigious star-formation rates (SFRs) and large stellar masses. We conducted a spatially-resolved morphological analysis of the rest-frame UV/NIR emission in three DSFGs at z~2.5. Initially discovered as CO emitters by NOEMA observations of a bright Herschel source, we observed them with the JWST/NIRCam as part of the PEARLS program. The NIRCam data reveal the galaxies' stellar populations and dust distributions on scales of 250 pc. Spatial variations in stellar mass, SFR, and dust extinction are determined in resolved maps obtained through pixel-based SED fitting. The CO emitters are massive, dusty starburst galaxies with SFRs=340-2500 Msun/yr, positioning them among the most active SFGs at 2

We report ultra-deep, medium-resolution spectroscopic observations for 4 quiescent galaxies with log$_{10}(M_*/\mathrm{M_\odot})>11$ at $3 < z < 5$. These data were obtained with JWST NIRSpec as part of the Early eXtragalactic Continuum and Emission Line Science (EXCELS) survey, which we introduce in this work. The first two galaxies are newly selected from PRIMER UDS imaging, both at $z=4.62$ and separated by $860$ pkpc on the sky, within a larger structure for which we confirm several other members. Both formed at $z\simeq8-10$. These systems could plausibly merge by the present day to produce a local massive elliptical galaxy. The other two ultra-massive quiescent galaxies are previously known at $z=3.99$ and $3.19$, with the latter (ZF-UDS-7329) having been the subject of debate as potentially too old and too massive to be accommodated by the $\Lambda$-CDM halo-mass function. Both exhibit high stellar metallicities, and for ZF-UDS-7329 we are able to measure the $\alpha-$enhancement, obtaining [Mg/Fe] = $0.42^{+0.19}_{-0.17}$. We finally evaluate whether these 4 galaxies are consistent with the $\Lambda$-CDM halo-mass function using an extreme value statistics approach. We find that the $z=4.62$ objects and the $z=3.19$ object are unlikely within our area under the assumption of standard stellar fractions ($f_*\simeq0.1-0.2$). However, these objects roughly align with the most massive galaxies expected under the assumption of 100 per cent conversion of baryons to stars ($f_*$=1). Our results suggest extreme galaxy formation physics during the first billion years, but no conflict with $\Lambda$-CDM cosmology., Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present SAUNAS (Selective Amplification of Ultra Noisy Astronomical Signal), a pipeline designed for detecting diffuse X-ray emission in the data obtained with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. SAUNAS queries the available observations in the Chandra archive, performs photometric calibration, PSF (point spread function) modeling, and deconvolution, point-source removal, adaptive smoothing, and background correction. This pipeline builds on existing and well-tested software including CIAO, VorBin, and LIRA. We characterize the performance of SAUNAS through several quality performance tests, and demonstrate the broad applications and capabilities of SAUNAS using two galaxies already known to show X-ray emitting structures. SAUNAS successfully detects the 30 kpc X-ray super-wind of NGC 3079 using Chandra/ACIS datasets, matching the spatial distribution detected with more sensitive XMM-Newton observations. The analysis performed by SAUNAS reveals an extended low surface brightness source in the field of UGC 5101 in the 0.3-1.0 keV and 1.0-2.0 keV bands. This source is potentially a background galaxy cluster or a hot gas plume associated with UGC 5101. SAUNAS demonstrates its ability to recover previously undetected structures in archival data, expanding exploration into the low surface brightness X-ray universe with Chandra/ACIS., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 27 pages, 19 figures. The SAUNAS X-ray surface brightness and signal-to-noise maps of NGC 3079 and UGC 5101 are publicly available in Zenodo in FITS format: https://zenodo.org/records/10892485. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10892485. The list of Chandra datasets, obtained by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, are contained in DOI: 10.25574/cdc.225

We present an analysis of rest-frame UV continuum slopes, $\beta$, using a sample of 1011 galaxies at $6.5

The first public 0.9-4.4{\mu}m NIRCam images of the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Time Domain Field (TDF) 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 per arcmin2) with point-like cores and have modeled their two-dimensional light profiles with GalFit, identifying 16 galactic nuclei with measurable point-source components. GalFit suggests 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 (SED) 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{\mu}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. These criteria 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 is resurrecting the morphological identification of AGN., Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables

The ultraviolet continuum traces young stars while the near-infrared unveils older stellar populations and dust-obscured regions. Balmer emission lines provide insights on gas properties and young stellar objects but are highly affected by dust attenuation. The near-infrared Paschen lines suffer less dust attenuation and can be used to measure star formation rates (SFRs) in star-forming regions obscured by dust clouds. We select 13 sources between redshifts 1 and 3 observed with HST, JWST/NIRCam and NIRSpec based on the availability of at least one Balmer and one Paschen line with S/N > 5. With a newly-developed version of CIGALE, we fit their hydrogen line equivalent widths (EWs) and photometric data. We assess the impacts of the removal of spectroscopic data by comparing the quality of the fits of the spectro-photometric data to those with photometric data only. We compare the single (BC03) vs binary (BPASS) stellar populations models in the fitting process of spectro-photometric data. We derive the differential attenuation and explore different attenuation recipes by fitting spectro-photometric data with BC03. For each stellar model and for each input dataset (with and without EWs), we quantify the deviation on the SFRs and stellar masses from the "standard" choice. On average, the SFRs are overestimated and the stellar masses are underestimated when EWs are not included as input data. We find a major contribution of the H${\alpha}$ emission line to the broadband photometric measurements of our sources, and a trend of increasing contribution with specific SFR. Using the BPASS models has a significant impact on the derived SFRs and stellar masses. We show that a flexible attenuation recipe provides more accurate estimates of the dust attenuation parameters, especially the differential attenuation which agrees with the original value of Charlot & Fall (2000)., Comment: Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 19 pages, 15 figures

We present a new parametric lens model for the G165.7+67.0 galaxy cluster, which was discovered with $Planck$ through its bright submillimeter flux, originating from a pair of extraordinary dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at $z\approx 2.2$. Using JWST and interferometric mm/radio observations, we characterize the intrinsic physical properties of the DSFGs, which are separated by only $\sim 1^{\prime\prime}$ (8 kpc) and a velocity difference $\Delta V \lesssim 600~{\rm km}~{\rm s}^{-1}$ in the source plane, and thus likely undergoing a major merger. Boasting intrinsic star formation rates ${\rm SFR}_{\rm IR} = 320 \pm 70$ and $400 \pm 80~ M_\odot~{\rm yr}^{-1}$, stellar masses ${\rm log}[M_\star/M_\odot] = 10.2 \pm 0.1$ and $10.3 \pm 0.1$, and dust attenuations $A_V = 1.5 \pm 0.3$ and $1.2 \pm 0.3$, they are remarkably similar objects. We perform spatially-resolved pixel-by-pixel SED fitting using rest-frame near-UV to near-IR imaging from JWST/NIRCam for both galaxies, resolving some stellar structures down to 100 pc scales. Based on their resolved specific SFRs and $UVJ$ colors, both DSFGs are experiencing significant galaxy-scale star formation events. If they are indeed interacting gravitationally, this strong starburst could be the hallmark of gas that has been disrupted by an initial close passage. In contrast, the host galaxy of the recently discovered triply-imaged SN H0pe has a much lower SFR than the DSFGs, and we present evidence for the onset of inside-out quenching and large column densities of dust even in regions of low specific SFR. Based on the intrinsic SFRs of the DSFGs inferred from UV through FIR SED modeling, this pair of objects alone is predicted to yield an observable $1.1 \pm 0.2~{\rm CCSNe~yr}^{-1}$, making this cluster field ripe for continued monitoring., Comment: 47 pages, 21 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to ApJ, comments welcome!

Strong gravitational magnification by massive galaxy clusters enable us to detect faint background sources, resolve their detailed internal structures, and in the most extreme cases identify and study individual stars in distant galaxies. Highly magnified individual stars allow for a wide range of applications, including studies of stellar populations in distant galaxies and constraining small-scale dark matter structures. However, these applications have been hampered by the small number of events observed, as typically one or a few stars are identified from each distant galaxy. Here, we report the discovery of 46 significant microlensed stars in a single strongly-lensed high-redshift galaxy behind the Abell 370 cluster at redshift of 0.725 when the Universe was half of its current age (dubbed the ``Dragon arc''), based on two observations separated by one year with the James Webb Space Telescope ({\it JWST}). These events are mostly found near the expected lensing critical curves, suggesting that these are magnified individual stars that appear as transients from intracluster stellar microlenses. Through multi-wavelength photometry and colors, we constrain stellar types and find that many of them are consistent with red giants/supergiants magnified by factors of thousands. This finding reveals an unprecedented high occurrence of microlensing events in the Dragon arc, and proves that {\it JWST}'s time-domain observations open up the possibility of conducting statistical studies of high-redshift stars and subgalactic scale perturbations in the lensing dark matter field., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 1 table submitted to Nature Astronomy

Observations of caustic-crossing galaxies at redshift $0.72$ and the number density of events is greater around substructureand the number density of events is greater around substructures, and (ii) negative imaging regime where $\beta<2$. We study the particular case of seven microlensing events found by HST in the Dragon arc (at z=0.725). We find that a population of supergiant stars with a steep LF with $\beta=2.55$ fits the distribution of these events. We identify a small region of high density of microlensing events, and interpret it as evidence of a possible invisible substructure, for which we derive a mass of $\sim 1.3 \times 10^8\,\Msun$ (within its Einstein radius)., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures

We present a sample of 341 "little red dots" (LRDs) spanning the redshift range $z\sim2-11$ using data from the CEERS, PRIMER, JADES, UNCOVER and NGDEEP surveys. These sources are likely heavily-reddened AGN that trace a previously-hidden phase of dust-obscured black hole growth in the early Universe. Unlike past use of color indices to identify LRDs, we employ continuum slope fitting using shifting bandpasses to sample the same rest-frame emission blueward and redward of the Balmer break. This approach allows us to identify LRDs over a wider redshift range and is less susceptible to contamination from galaxies with strong breaks that otherwise lack a rising red continuum. The redshift distribution of our sample increases at $z<8$ and then undergoes a rapid decline at $z\sim4.5$, which may tie the emergence, and obscuration, of these sources to the inside-out growth that galaxies experience during this epoch. We find that LRDs are 2-3 dex more numerous than bright quasars at $z\sim5-7$, but their number density is only 0.6-1 dex higher than X-ray and UV selected AGN at these redshifts. Within our sample, we have identified the first X-ray detected LRDs at $z=3.1$ and $z=4.66$. An X-ray spectral analysis confirms that these AGN are moderately obscured with $\log\,(N_{\rm H}/{\rm cm}^{2}$) of $23.3^{+0.4}_{-1.3}$ and $22.72^{+0.13}_{-0.16}$. Our analysis reveals that reddened AGN emission dominates their rest-optical light, while the rest-UV originates from their host galaxies. We also present NIRSpec follow-up spectroscopy of 17 LRDs that show broad emission lines consistent with AGN activity. The confirmed AGN fraction of our sample is $71\%$ for sources with F444W$<26.5$. In addition, we find three LRDs with narrow blue-shifted Balmer absorption features in their spectra, suggesting an outflow of high-density, low ionization gas from near the central engine of these faint, red AGN., Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures, submitted to ApJ

MACS J0600.1-2008 (MACS0600) is an X-ray luminous, massive galaxy cluster at $z_{\mathrm{d}}=0.43$, studied previously by the REionization LensIng Cluster Survey (RELICS) and ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey (ALCS) projects which revealed a complex, bimodal mass distribution and an intriguing high-redshift object behind it. Here, we report on the results of a combined analysis of the extended strong lensing (SL), X-ray, Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ), and galaxy luminosity-density properties of this system. Using new JWST and ground-based Gemini-N and Keck data, we obtain 13 new spectroscopic redshifts of multiply imaged galaxies and identify 12 new photometric multiple-image systems and candidates, including two multiply imaged $z\sim7$ objects. Taking advantage of the larger areal coverage, our analysis reveals an additional bimodal, massive SL structure which we measure spectroscopically to lie adjacent to the cluster and whose existence was implied by previous SL-modeling analyses. While based in part on photometric systems identified in ground-based imaging requiring further verification, our extended SL model suggests that the cluster may have the second-largest critical area and effective Einstein radius observed to date, $A_{\mathrm{crit}}\simeq2.16 \mathrm{arcmin}^2$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{E}}=49.7''\pm5.0''$ for a source at $z_{\mathrm{s}}=2$, enclosing a total mass of $M(<\theta_{\mathrm{E}})=(4.7\pm0.7)\times10^{14} \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. These results are also supported by the galaxy luminosity distribution, the SZ and X-ray data. Yet another, probably related massive cluster structure, discovered in X-rays $5'$ (1.7 Mpc) further north, suggests that MACS0600 is part of an even larger filamentary structure. This discovery adds to several recent detections of massive structures around SL galaxy clusters and establishes MACS0600 as a prime target for future high-redshift surveys with JWST., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Version updated to the accepted paper

A bright ($m_{\rm F150W,AB}$=24 mag), $z=1.95$ supernova (SN) candidate was discovered in JWST/NIRCam imaging acquired on 2023 November 17. The SN is quintuply-imaged as a result of strong gravitational lensing by a foreground galaxy cluster, detected in three locations, and remarkably is the second lensed SN found in the same host galaxy. The previous lensed SN was called "Requiem", and therefore the new SN is named "Encore". This makes the MACS J0138.0$-$2155 cluster the first known system to produce more than one multiply-imaged SN. Moreover, both SN Requiem and SN Encore are Type Ia SNe (SNe Ia), making this the most distant case of a galaxy hosting two SNe Ia. Using parametric host fitting, we determine the probability of detecting two SNe Ia in this host galaxy over a $\sim10$ year window to be $\approx3\%$. These observations have the potential to yield a Hubble Constant ($H_0$) measurement with $\sim10\%$ precision, only the third lensed SN capable of such a result, using the three visible images of the SN. Both SN Requiem and SN Encore have a fourth image that is expected to appear within a few years of $\sim2030$, providing an unprecedented baseline for time-delay cosmography., Comment: Accepted, ApJL

SN H0pe is a triply imaged supernova (SN) at redshift $z=1.78$ discovered using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In order to classify the SN spectroscopically and measure the relative time delays of its three images (designated A, B, and C), we acquired NIRSpec follow-up spectroscopy spanning 0.6 to 5 microns. From the high signal-to-noise spectra of the two bright images B and C, we first classify the SN, whose spectra most closely match those of SN 1994D and SN 2013dy, as a Type Ia SN. We identify prominent blueshifted absorption features corresponding to Si II $\lambda6355$ and Ca II H $\lambda3970$ and K $\lambda3935$. We next measure the absolute phases of the three images from our spectra, which allows us to constrain their relative time delays. The absolute phases of the three images, determined by fitting the three spectra to Hsiao07 SN templates, are $6.5_{-1.8}^{+2.4}$d, $24.3_{-3.9}^{+3.9}$d, and $50.6_{-15.3}^{+16.1}$d for the brightest to faintest images. These correspond to relative time delays between Image A and Image B and between Image B and Image C of $-122.3_{-43.8}^{+43.7}$d and $49.3_{-14.7}^{+12.2}$d, respectively. The SALT3-NIR model yields phases and time delays consistent with these values. After unblinding, we additionally explored the effect of using Hsiao07 template spectra for simulations through eighty instead of sixty days past maximum, and found a small (11.5 and 1.0 days, respectively) yet statistically insignificant ($\sim$0.25$\sigma$ and $\sim$0.1$\sigma$) effect on the inferred image delays., Comment: 27 pages (including appendices), 11 figures, 13 supplemental figures

Supernova (SN) H0pe is a gravitationally lensed, triply-imaged, Type Ia SN (SN Ia) discovered in James Webb Space Telescope imaging of the PLCK G165.7+67.0 cluster of galaxies. Well-observed multiply-imaged SNe provide a rare opportunity to constrain the Hubble constant ($H_0$), by measuring the relative time delay between the images and modeling the foreground mass distribution. SN H0pe is located at $z=1.783$, and is the first SN Ia with sufficient light curve sampling and long enough time delays for an $H_0$ inference. Here we present photometric time-delay measurements and SN properties of SN H0pe. Using JWST/NIRCam photometry we measure time delays of $\Delta t_{ab}=-116.6^{+10.8}_{-9.3}$ and $\Delta t_{cb}=-48.6^{+3.6}_{-4.0}$ observer-frame days relative to the last image to arrive (image 2b; all uncertainties are $1\sigma$), which corresponds to a $\sim5.6\%$ uncertainty contribution for $H_0$ assuming $70 \rm{km s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}}$. We also constrain the absolute magnification of each image to $\mu_{a}=4.3^{+1.6}_{-1.8}$, $\mu_{b}=7.6^{+3.6}_{-2.6}$, $\mu_{c}=6.4^{+1.6}_{-1.5}$ by comparing the observed peak near-IR magnitude of SN H0pe to the non-lensed population of SNe Ia., Comment: Accepted in ApJ

The first James Webb Space Telescope ({\it JWST}) Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) imaging in the field of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0 ($z=0.35$) uncovered a Type Ia supernova (SN~Ia) at $z=1.78$, called ``SN H0pe." Three different images of this one SN were detected as a result of strong gravitational lensing, each one traversing a different path in spacetime, thereby inducing a relative delay in the arrival of each image. Follow-up {\it JWST} observations of all three SN images enabled photometric and rare spectroscopic measurements of the two relative time delays. Following strict blinding protocols which oversaw a live unblinding and regulated post-unblinding changes, these two measured time delays were compared to the predictions of seven independently constructed cluster lens models to measure a value for the Hubble constant, $H_0=71.8^{+9.8}_{-7.6}$~km~s$^{-1}$~Mpc$^{-1}$. The range of admissible $H_0$ values predicted across the lens models limits further precision, reflecting the well-known degeneracies between lens model constraints and time delays. It has long been theorized that a way forward is to leverage a standard candle, however this has not been realized until now. For the first time, the lens models are evaluated by their agreement with the SN absolute magnification, breaking these degeneracies and producing our best estimate, $H_0=75.4^{+8.1}_{-5.5}$~km~s$^{-1}$~Mpc$^{-1}$. This is the first precision measurement of $H_0$ from a multiply-imaged SN~Ia, and provides a measurement in a rarely utilized redshift regime. This result agrees with other local universe measurements, yet exceeds the value of $H_0$ derived from the early Universe with $\gtrsim90\%$ confidence, increasing evidence of the Hubble tension. With the precision provided by only four more events, this approach could solidify this disagreement to $>3\sigma$., Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 22 pages, 7 Figures

The Balmer decrement (H$\alpha$/H$\beta$) provides a constraint on attenuation, the cumulative effects of dust grains in the ISM. The ratio is a reliable spectroscopic tool for deriving the dust properties of galaxies that determine many different quantities such as star formation rate, metallicity, and SED models. Here we measure independently both the attenuation and H$\alpha$/H$\beta$ of an occulting galaxy pair: VV 191. Attenuation measurements in the visible spectrum (A$_{V,stars}$) from dust maps derived from the F606W filter of HST and the F090W filter of JWST are matched with spaxel-by-spaxel H$\alpha$/H$\beta$ observations from the George and Cynthia Mitchell Spectrograph (GCMS) of the McDonald Observatory. The 0.5 to 0.7 micron bandpass covers the Balmer lines for VV 191. The dust maps of JWST and HST provide the high sensitivity necessary for comparisons and tracking trends of the geometrically favorable galaxy. We present maps and plots of the Balmer lines for the VV 191 galaxy pair and for a specific region highlighting dust lanes for VV 191b in the overlap region. We compute A$_{V, HII}$ from H$\alpha$/H$\beta$ and plot both quantities against A$_{V, stars}$. Our results show that regions with higher dust content, residing closer to the spiral center, dominate ionized gas attenuation, leading to an overestimation of A$_{V, HII}$ by a factor or 2. Further out in the spiral arms, the lower dust content leads to more agreement between the attenuations, indicating lower SFR and larger contribution from older stars to the stellar continuum outside the Petrosian radius., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication by The Astronomical Journal

Measurements of the size of dust continuum emission are an important tool for constraining the spatial extent of star formation and hence the build-up of stellar mass. Compact dust emission has generally been observed at Cosmic Noon (z~2-3). However, at earlier epochs, toward the end of the Reionization (z~4-6), only the sizes of a handful of IR-bright galaxies have been measured. In this work, we derive the dust emission sizes of main-sequence galaxies at z~5 from the ALPINE survey. We measure the dust effective radius r_e,FIR in the uv-plane in Band 7 of ALMA for seven ALPINE galaxies with resolved emission and we compare it with rest-frame UV and [CII]158$\mu$m measurements. We study the r_e,FIR-L_IR scaling relation by considering our dust size measurements and all the data in literature at z~4-6. Finally, we compare our size measurements with predictions from simulations. The dust emission in the selected ALPINE galaxies is rather extended (r_e,FIR~1.5-3 kpc), similar to [CII]158 um but a factor of ~2 larger than the rest-frame UV emission. Putting together all the measurements at z~5, spanning 2 decades in luminosity from L_IR ~ 10^11 L_sun to L_IR ~ 10^13 L_sun, the data highlight a steeply increasing trend of the r_e,FIR-L_IR relation at L_IR< 10^12 L_sun, followed by a downturn and a decreasing trend at brighter luminosities. Finally, simulations that extend up to the stellar masses of the ALPINE galaxies considered in the present work predict a sub-set of galaxies (~25% at 10^10 M_sun < M_star < 10^11 M_sun) with sizes as large as those measured., Comment: 8 pages, Accepted by A&A

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered a surprising population of bright galaxies in the very early universe (< 500 Myrs after the Big Bang) that is hard to explain with conventional galaxy formation models and whose physical properties remain to be fully understood. Insight into the internal physics of galaxies is captured best via observations of excited-state atomic transitions of ionized gas, but beyond z~7-9, the brightest spectral signatures are redshifted into the mid-infrared regime, where observations are increasingly more difficult. Here, we present the first detection of a hydrogen recombination line (H{\alpha}) and doubly-ionized oxygen ([OIII]4959,5007{\AA}) at z>10 using the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument, MIRI. These detections place the bright galaxy GHZ2/GLASS-z12 at z=12.33+/-0.02, making it the most distant astronomical object with direct spectroscopic detection of these lines and the brightest confirmed object at this epoch. These observations provide key insights into the conditions of this primeval galaxy, which shows hard ionizing conditions rarely seen in the local Universe and likely driven by compact, young (<30 Myr) star formation. Its oxygen-to-hydrogen abundance is close to a tenth of the solar value, indicating a rapid metal enrichment during the earliest phases of galaxy formation. This study confirms the unique conditions of the brightest and most distant galaxies recently discovered by JWST and the huge potential of mid-IR observations to characterize these systems, opening a range of new possibilities in the study of the very early Universe., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Submitted for publication. Comments are most welcome

Combining the public JWST/NIRCam imaging programs CEERS, PRIMER and JADES, spanning a total area of $\sim$500 arcmin$^2$, we obtain a sample of $>$30,000 galaxies at $z\sim4-9$ that allows us to perform a complete, rest-optical selected census of the galaxy population at $z>3$. Comparing the stellar mass $M_*$ and the UV-slope $\beta$ distributions between JWST- and HST-selected samples, we generally find very good agreement and no significant biases. Nevertheless, JWST enables us to probe a small population of UV-red galaxies that was missing from previous HST-based LBG samples. We measure galaxy stellar mass functions (SMFs) at $z\sim4-9$ and show that they are broadly consistent with existing literature results. However, UV-red galaxies dominate the high-mass end of the SMF at least out to $z\sim6$. In particular the most massive galaxies typically show very red colors between $\lambda_{obs}\sim1.5\mu$m and $\sim4.5\mu$m, and thus JWST's unprecedented resolution and sensitivity at these wavelengths yields more accurate constraints on their abundance and masses. The implied redshift evolution of the high-mass end of the SMF suggests a rapid build-up of massive dust-obscured as well as quiescent galaxies from $z\sim6$ to $z\sim4$ as well as an enhanced efficiency of star formation towards earlier times ($z\gtrsim6$). We find the SMFs to be steep over the entire redshift range, and slightly steepening with redshift from $z\sim 4-6$, reaching values of $\approx-2$ at $z\gtrsim6$. Finally, we show that the galaxy mass density grows by a factor $\sim20\times$ in the $\sim1$ Gyr of cosmic time from $z\sim9$ to $z\sim4$. Our results emphasize the importance of rest-frame optically-selected samples in inferring accurate distributions of physical properties and studying the mass build-up of galaxies in the first 1.5 Gyr of cosmic history., Comment: 29 pages, 17 figures, submitted to MNRAS

Age-dating and weighting stellar populations in galaxies are essential steps to study galaxy formation through cosmic times. Evolutionary population synthesis models with different input physics are used towards this aim. In particular, the contribution from the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stellar phase, which peaks for intermediate-age 0.6-2 Gyr systems, has been debated upon for decades. Here we report the detection of strong cool-star signatures in the rest-frame near-infrared spectra of three young (~1 Gyr), massive (~10^10 Msun) quiescent galaxies at large look-back time, z=1-2, using JWST/NIRSpec. The co-existence of oxygen- and carbon-type absorption features, spectral edges and features from rare species such as Vanadium, and possibly Zirconium, reveal a strong contribution from TP-AGB stars. Population synthesis models with significant TP-AGB contribution reproduce the observations better than those with weak TP-AGB, which are commonly used. These findings call for revisions of published stellar population fitting results, pointing to lower masses and younger ages, with additional implications on cosmic dust production and chemical enrichment. New generations of improved models are needed, informed by these and future observations., Comment: Nature Astronomy, in press

Extreme emission line galaxies (EELGs) are typically characterized by high equivalent widths (EWs) which are driven by elevated specific star formation rates (sSFR) in low-mass galaxies with subsolar metallicities and little dust. Such extreme systems are rare in the local universe, but the number density of EELGs increases with redshift. Such starburst galaxies are currently presumed to be the main drivers of hydrogen reionization over 5.50.4-1 which indicates that star formation may be the dominant source of ionization. Based on the photometric fluxes, we find an increase of EW([OIII]+H$\beta$) with sSFR and $\Sigma_{SFR}$, and a decrease with age and stellar mass. The sample of EELGs can reach $\Sigma_{SFR}>$10Msun yr$^{-1}$kpc$^{-2}$ which indicate they are strong candidates of LyC leakers. Another indirect indicator is the high values of O32>5 that can be reached for some galaxies in the sample., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. We updated the manuscript following referee's suggestions