Search

We present a new analytical model for the attenuation to Epoch of Reionization (EoR) galaxies by proximate neutral hydrogen gas. Many galaxy spectra in the EoR taken by JWST have shown a flux deficit at wavelengths just redward of the Lyman break, and this has been regarded as resulting from Ly$\alpha$ damping wing absorption by the increasing amount of neutral hydrogen in the line-of-sight. However, previous attenuation models for the intergalactic medium (IGM) commonly used in photometric redshift template-fitting codes assume that the Lyman break is rather sharp, which leads to systematic overestimation of photometric redshifts at $z>7$. In this letter, we build and empirically calibrate a new attenuation model that takes the increased Ly$\alpha$ damping wing absorption into account. Our model consists of the canonical IGM absorption and an additional absorption component due to dense neutral hydrogen gas clouds proximate to the galaxy, and we derive the redshift evolution of HI column density of the proximate clouds by calibrating the model using CANUCS JWST observations. The resulting total transmission curve resolves the photometric redshift bias at $z>7$, an improvement that is robust to choice of template-fitting code, template set, and photometric catalog used. The new attenuation model can be easily implemented in existing template-fitting codes, and significantly improves the photometric redshift performance in the EoR., Comment: Submitted to ApJL. Comments are welcome. The new attenuation model has been implemented in the latest version EAzY (v0.8 or later) and Phosphoros (v2.0.2 or later)

The bright radio source, GLEAM J091734-001243 (hereafter GLEAM J0917-0012), was previously selected as a candidate ultra-high redshift (z>5) radio galaxy due to its compact radio size and faint magnitude (K(AB)=22.7). Its redshift was not conclusively determined from follow-up millimetre and near-infrared spectroscopy. Here we present new HST WFC3 G141 grism observations which reveal several emission lines including [NeIII]3867, [NeV]3426 and an extended (~4.8 kpc), [OII]3727 line which confirm a redshift of 3.004+/-0.001. The extended component of the [OII]3727 line is co-spatial with one of two components seen at 2.276 GHz in high resolution (60x20 mas) Long Baseline Array data, reminiscent of the alignments seen in local compact radio galaxies. The BEAGLE stellar mass (~2x10^11 Msun) and radio luminosity (L_500MHz}~10^28 W Hz^-1) put GLEAM J0917-0012 within the distribution of the brightest high-redshift radio galaxies at similar redshifts. However, it is more compact than all of them. Modelling of the radio jet demonstrates that this is a young, ~50 kyr old, but powerful, 10^39 W, compact steep spectrum radio source. The weak constraint on the active galactic nucleus bolometric luminosity from the [NeV]3426 line combined with the modelled jet power tentatively implies a large black hole mass, >10^9 Msun, and a low, advection-dominated accretion rate, an Eddington ratio <0.03. The [NeV]3426/[NeIII]3867 vs [OII]3727/[NeIII]3867 line ratios are most easily explained by radiative shock models with precursor photoionisation. Hence, we infer that the line emission is directly caused by the shocks from the jet and that this radio source is one of the youngest and most powerful known at cosmic noon. We speculate that the star-formation in GLEAM J0917-0012 could be on its way to becoming quenched by the jet., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in PASA

We present galaxy MACS0416-Y1 at z$_{\rm{spec}} = 8.312$ as observed by the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). MACS0416-Y1 has been shown to have extreme dust properties, thus, we study the physical properties and star formation histories of its resolved components. Overall, we find that MACS0416-Y1 is undergoing a star formation burst in three resolved clumps. The central clump is less massive compared to the other clumps and possibly formed in the merging process of the two larger clumps. Although the star formation history indicates an ongoing star formation burst, this gas-rich galaxy shows comparable star formation efficiency to cosmic noon galaxies. Using NIRSpec prism spectroscopy, we measure metallicity, $12 +\log\rm{(O/H)} = 7.76\pm0.03$ , ionisation parameter, $\log U = -2.48\pm0.03$, and electron temperature $\rm{T}_e = 18000\pm 4000 K $. The emission line ratios of the galaxy indicate an evolved Interstellar medium (ISM) similar to $z\sim2$ star-forming galaxies. Further, we find possible presence of ionisation from an active galactic nuclei (AGN) using emission line diagnostics, however, we do not detect broad line component in H$\beta$ emission line. As this gas-rich galaxy is undergoing a major merger, we hypothesise that the high dust temperature in MACS0416-Y1 is caused by the star formation burst or a possible narrow-line AGN., Comment: Submitted to ApJL

The epoch of reionisation progressed through the emission of ionising photons from galaxies to their local intergalactic medium. In this work, we characterise the dwarf star-forming galaxies as candidates for the source of ionising photons that drove EoR. We investigate the ionising properties and star formation histories of star-forming dwarf galaxies at the last stages of EoR at $4.8<\rm{z}<7$ using observations from the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). The magnification due to gravitational lensing allows us to probe large dynamic ranges in stellar mass ($2\times 10^{6}\leq\rm{M}_*/\rm{M}_\odot\leq5\times 10^{9}$) and UV magnitudes ($-22.68\leq$M$_{UV}\leq=-15.95$).We find a median UV slope \buv of $-2. 56\pm0.23$ and the production efficiency of ionising photons $\log$ \xiion $=25.39\pm0.6$ for the full sample ($4.8<\rm{z}<7$) with a median stellar mass of $6.3\pm0.5\times10^{7} \rm{M}_\odot$. We find both \buv and \xiion are marginally correlated with the stellar mass of the galaxy, indicating a possible greater contribution of dwarf galaxies to the reionisation of the Universe. We find that on average, galaxies in our sample are experiencing a recent rise/burst of star formation which translates to a higher scatter in \xiion and a large scatter in H$\alpha$ equivalent widths. Finally, we investigate the trends of H$\alpha$ and [OIII]+H$\beta$ EWs with UV magnitude and find M$_{UV}$ is correlated between H$\alpha$ but not with [OIII]+H$\beta$ EWs indicating low metallicities and recent burst in the UV faint galaxies., Comment: Accepted For Publication in MNRAS

Spatially resolved studies are key to understanding when, where, and how stars form within galaxies. Using slitless grism spectra and broadband imaging from the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS) we study the spatially resolved properties of a strongly lensed ($\mu$ = 5.4$\pm$1.8) z = 0.8718 galaxy pair consisting of a blue face-on galaxy (10.2 $\pm$ 0.2 log($M/M_\odot$)) with multiple star-forming clumps and a dusty red edge-on galaxy (9.9 $\pm$ 0.3 log($M/M_\odot$)). We produce accurate H$\alpha$ maps from JWST/NIRISS grism data using a new methodology that accurately models spatially varying continuum and emission line strengths. With spatially resolved indicators, we probe star formation on timescales of $\sim$ 10 Myr (NIRISS H$\alpha$ emission line maps) and $\sim$ 100 Myr (UV imaging and broadband SED fits). Taking the ratio of the H$\alpha$ to UV flux ($\eta$), we measure spatially resolved star formation burstiness. We find that in the face-on galaxy both H$\alpha$ and broadband star formation rates (SFRs) drop at large galactocentric radii by a factor of $\sim$ 4.7 and 3.8 respectively, while SFR over the last $\sim$ 100 Myrs has increased by a factor of 1.6. Additionally, of the 20 clumps identified in the galaxy pair we find that 7 are experiencing bursty star formation, while 10 clumps are quenching and 3 are in equilibrium (either being in a state of steady star formation or post-burst). Our analysis reveals that the blue face-on galaxy disk is predominantly in a quenching or equilibrium phase. However, the most intense quenching within the galaxy is seen in the quenching clumps. This pilot study demonstrates what JWST/NIRISS data can reveal about spatially varying star formation in galaxies at Cosmic Noon., Comment: MNRAS Accepted, 15 pages, 12 figures

Strong gravitational lensing in galaxy clusters has become an essential tool in astrophysics, allowing us to directly probe the dark matter distribution and study magnified background sources. The precision and reliability of strong lensing models rely heavily on the number and quality of multiple images of background sources with spectroscopic redshifts. We present an updated strong lensing model of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403 with the largest sample of multiple images with spectroscopic redshifts in a galaxy cluster field to date. Furthermore, we aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of JWST particularly its NIRISS camera, for strong lensing studies. We use the JWST 's NIRCam imaging and NIRSpec and NIRISS spectroscopy from the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). The cluster mass model is constrained using Lenstool software. Our new dataset, used for constraining the lens model, comprises 303 secure multiple images from 111 background sources and includes systems with previously known MUSE redshift and systems for which we obtained spectroscopic redshift for the first time using NIRISS and NIRSpec spectroscopy. The total number of secure spectroscopic systems is >20% higher than in the previous strong lensing studies of this cluster. The derived strong lensing model can reproduce multiple images with the root-mean-square distance of 0.53''. We also provide a full catalogue with 415 multiple images, including less reliable candidates. We furthermore demonstrate the effectiveness of JWST particularly NIRISS, for strong lensing studies. As NIRISS F115W, F150W, and F200W grism spectroscopy captures at least two of the [OII] {\lambda}3727, [OIII] {\lambda}{\lambda}4959, 5007, and H{\alpha} lines at 1

We present a catalog of hard X-ray serendipitous sources detected in the first 80 months of observations by the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). The NuSTAR serendipitous survey 80-month (NSS80) catalog has an unprecedented $\sim$ 62 Ms of effective exposure time over 894 unique fields (a factor of three increase over the 40-month catalog), with an areal coverage of $\sim $36 deg$^2$, larger than all NuSTAR extragalactic surveys. NSS80 provides 1274 hard X-ray sources in the $3-24$ keV band (822 new detections compared to the previous 40-month catalog). Approximately 76% of the NuSTAR sources have lower-energy ($<10$ keV) X-ray counterparts from Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Swift-XRT. We have undertaken an extensive campaign of ground-based spectroscopic follow-up to obtain new source redshifts and classifications for 427 sources. Combining these with existing archival spectroscopy provides redshifts for 550 NSS80 sources, of which 547 are classified. The sample is primarily composed of active galactic nuclei (AGN), detected over a large range in redshift ($z$ = 0.012-3.43), but also includes 58 spectroscopically confirmed Galactic sources. In addition, five AGN/galaxy pairs, one dual AGN system, one BL Lac candidate, and a hotspot of 4C 74.26 (radio quasar) have been identified. The median rest-frame $10-40$ keV luminosity and redshift of the NSS80 are $\langle{L_\mathrm{10-40 keV}}\rangle$ = 1.2 $\times$ 10$^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and $\langle z \rangle = 0.56$. We investigate the optical properties and construct composite optical spectra to search for subtle signatures not present in the individual spectra, finding an excess of redder BL AGN compared to optical quasar surveys predominantly due to the presence of the host-galaxy and, at least in part, due to dust obscuration., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ:S. 57 pages, 32 figures

We report an updated mass and magnification model of galaxy cluster Abell 370 using new NIRCam and NIRISS data from the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). Using Lenstool and a combination of archival HST and MUSE data with new JWST data as constraints, we derive an improved gravitational lensing model and extract magnifications of background galaxies with uncertainties. Using our best fit model, we perform a search for new multiply imaged systems via predicted positions. We report no new multiply imaged systems with identifiable redshifts, likely due to already very deep HST and Spitzer data, but confirm a $z\sim8$ multiply imaged system by measuring its redshift with NIRISS and NIRSpec spectra. We find that the overall shape of the critical curve for a source at $z = 9.0$ is similar to previous models of Abell 370, with small changes. We investigate the $z\sim8$ galaxy with two images observable with an apparent magnitude in the F125W band of $26.0\pm0.2$ and $25.6\pm0.1$. After correcting for the magnifications of the images, 7.2$^{+0.2}_{-1.2}$ and 8.7$^{+0.4}_{-0.4}$, we use SED fitting to find an intrinsic stellar mass of log($M^*/M_{\odot})$ = 7.35$^{+0.04}_{-0.05}$, intrinsic SFR of 3.5$^{+2.2}_{-1.4}$ M$_{\odot}$/yr, and $M_{UV}$ of -21.3$^{+0.2}_{-0.2}$, which is close to the knee of the luminosity function at that redshift. Our model, and corresponding magnification, shear, and convergence maps are available on request and will be made publicly available on MAST in a CANUCS data release (DOI: 10.17909/ph4n-6n76)., Comment: 15 pages

The most distant galaxies detected by JWST are assembling in a Universe that is less than 5\% of its present age. At these times, the progenitors of galaxies like the Milky Way are expected to be about 10,000 times less massive than they are now, with masses quite comparable to that of massive globular clusters seen in the local Universe. Composed today primarily of old stars and correlating with the properties of their parent dark matter halos, the first globular clusters are thought to have formed during the earliest stages of galaxy assembly. In this article we explore the connection between star clusters and galaxy assembly by showing JWST observations of a strongly lensed galaxy at zspec = 8.304, exhibiting a network of massive star clusters (the 'Firefly Sparkle') cocooned in a diffuse arc. The Firefly Sparkle exhibits the hallmarks expected of a future Milky Way-type galaxy captured during its earliest and most gas-rich stage of formation. The mass distribution of the galaxy seems to be concentrated in ten distinct clusters, with individual cluster masses that straddle the boundary between low-mass galaxies and high-mass globular clusters. The cluster ages suggest that they are gravitationally bound with star formation histories showing a recent starburst possibly triggered by the interaction with a companion galaxy at the same redshift at a projected distance of $\sim$2 kpc away from the Firefly Sparkle. The central star cluster shows nebular-dominated spectra consistent with high temperatures and a top-heavy initial mass function, the product of formation in a very metal poor environment. Combined with abundance matching that suggests that this is likely to be a progenitor of galaxies like our own, the Firefly Sparkle provides an unprecedented case study of a Milky Way-like galaxy in the earliest stages of its assembly in only a 600 million year old Universe., Comment: submitted, comments are welcome! 36 pages, 9 figures

We present a methodology for modeling and removing light from cluster galaxies and intracluster light (ICL) from $James\ Webb\ Space\ Telescope$ ($JWST$) images of gravitational lensing clusters. We apply our method to Webb's First Deep Field the SMACS 0723 Early Release Observations and use the ICL subtracted images to select a sample of globular clusters (GCs) and dwarf galaxies within the cluster. We compare the spatial distributions of these two samples with our models of the galaxy and ICL light, finding significant similarity. Specifically we find that GCs trace the diffuse ICL, while dwarf galaxies are centrally concentrated near the cluster center We quantify the relationship between the surface density of compact sources and total cluster light, demonstrating a significant, tight correlation. We repeat our methodology and compare distributions of GCs with dark matter surface density and find a comparable result. Our findings suggest a common origin for GCs and diffuse ICL, with stripping from massive galaxies as they merge with the cluster being a plausible scenario., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures. Submitted to ApJ. Comments welcome

We present a new sample of 158 galaxies at redshift $z>7.5$ selected from deep \jwst\ NIRCam imaging of five widely-separated sightlines in the CANUCS survey. Two-thirds of the pointings and 80\% of the galaxies are covered by 12 to 14 NIRCam filters, including seven to nine medium bands, providing accurate photometric redshifts and robustness against low redshift interlopers. A sample of 28 galaxies at $z>7.5$ with spectroscopic redshifts shows a low systematic offset and scatter in the difference between photometric and spectroscopic redshifts. We derive the galaxy UV luminosity function at redshifts 8 to 12, finding a slightly higher normalization than previously seen with \hst\ at redshifts 8 to 10. We observe a steeper decline in the galaxy space density from $z=8$ to $12$ than found by most \jwst\ Cycle 1 studies. In particular, we find only eight galaxies at $z>10$ and none at $z>12.5$, with no $z>10$ galaxies brighter than F277W AB=28 or $M_{\rm UV}=-20$ in our unmasked, delensed survey area of 53.4 square arcminutes. We attribute the lack of bright $z>10$ galaxies in CANUCS compared to GLASS and CEERS to intrinsic variance in the galaxy density along different sightlines. The evolution in the CANUCS luminosity function between $z=8$ and $12$ is comparable to that predicted by simulations that assume a standard star formation efficiency, without invoking any special adjustments., Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, ApJ, in press

Early JWST observations that targeted so-called double-break sources (attributed to Lyman and Balmer breaks at $z>7$), reported a previously unknown population of very massive, evolved high-redshift galaxies. This surprising discovery led to a flurry of attempts to explain these objects' unexpected existence including invoking alternatives to the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological paradigm. To test these early results, we adopted the same double-break candidate galaxy selection criteria to search for such objects in the JWST images of the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS), and found a sample of 19 sources over five independent CANUCS fields that cover a total effective area of $\sim60\,$arcmin$^2$ at $z\sim8$. However, (1) our SED fits do not yield exceptionally high stellar masses for our candidates, while (2) spectroscopy of five of the candidates shows that while all five are at high redshifts, their red colours are due to high-EW emission lines in star-forming galaxies rather than Balmer breaks in massive, evolved systems. Additionally, (3) field-to-field variance leads to differences of $\sim 1.5$ dex in the maximum stellar masses measured in the different fields, suggesting that the early single-field JWST observations may have suffered from cosmic variance and/or sample bias. Finally, (4) we show that the presence of even a single massive outlier can dominate conclusions from small samples such as those in early JWST observations. In conclusion, we find that the double-break sources in CANUCS are not sufficiently massive or numerous to warrant questioning the standard $\Lambda$CDM paradigm., Comment: V3 Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 13 pages (+5 in Appendix), 7 figures (+4), 1 table (+2)

We use CANUCS JWST/NIRCam imaging of galaxies behind the gravitationally-lensing cluster MACS J0417.5-1154 to investigate star formation burstiness in low-mass ($M_\star\sim10^8\ M_\odot$) galaxies at $z\sim4.7-6.5$. Our sample of 123 galaxies is selected using the Lyman break selection and photometric emission-line excess methods. Sixty per cent of the 123 galaxies in this sample have H$\alpha$-to-UV flux ratios that deviate significantly from the range of $\eta_{1500}$ values consistent with smooth and steady star formation histories. This large fraction indicates that the majority of low-mass galaxies is experiencing bursty star formation histories at high redshift. We also searched for interacting galaxies in our sample and found that they are remarkably common ($\sim40$ per cent of the sample). Compared to non-interacting galaxies, interacting galaxies are more likely to have very low H$\alpha$-to-UV ratios, suggesting that galaxy-galaxy interactions enhance star formation burstiness and enable faster quenching (with timescales of $\lesssim100$ Myr) that follows the rapid rise of star formation activity. Given the high frequency of galaxy-galaxy interactions and the rapid SFR fluctuations they appear to cause, we conclude that galaxy-galaxy interactions could be a leading cause of bursty star formation in low-mass, high-$z$ galaxies. They could thus play a significant role in the evolution of the galaxy population at early cosmological times., Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, and 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Ly$\alpha$ emission nebulae are ubiquitous around high-z galaxies and are tracers of the gaseous environment on scales out to >100 kpc. High-z radio galaxies (HzRGs, type-2 radio-loud quasars) host large scale nebulae observed in the ionised gas differ from those seen in other types of high-z quasars. In this work, we exploit MUSE observations of Lya nebulae around eight HzRGs ($2.9

We present measurements of stellar populations properties of a z = 9.1 gravitationally lensed galaxy MACS1149-JD1 using deep JWST NIRISS slitless spectroscopy as well as NIRISS and NIRCam imaging from the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). The galaxy is split into four components. Three magnified (${\mu}$ ~ 17) star-forming components are unresolved, giving intrinsic sizes of < 50pc. In addition, the underlying extended component contains the bulk of the stellar mass, formed the majority of its stars ~ 50Myr earlier than the other three components and is not the site of the most active star formation currently. The NIRISS and NIRCam resolved photometry does not confirm a strong Balmer break previously seen in Spitzer. The NIRISS grism spectrum has been extracted for the entire galaxy and shows a clear continuum and Lyman-break, with no Lyman-${\alpha}$ detected., Comment: This is the version of the article before peer review or editing, as submitted by an author to ApJLetters

We use JWST/NIRCam medium band photometry in a single pointing of the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS) to identify 118 Extreme Emission Line Galaxies (EELGs) over $1.7 \lesssim z \lesssim 6.7$, selected using a set of color cuts that target galaxies with extreme $\text{[OIII] + H}\beta$ and H$\alpha$ emission. We show that our medium band color selections are able to select galaxies based on emission line equivalent width (EW), which is advantageous to more commonly used selections since it does not require strong continuum emission, and can select galaxies with faint or red continuum fluxes. The median EWs of our sample is $EW(\text{H}\alpha) = 893 $ \AA\ and $ EW(\text{[OIII] + H}\beta) = 1255 $ \AA, and includes some objects with $EW(\text{[OIII] + H}\beta) \sim 3000$ \AA. These systems are mostly compact with low stellar mass (median $\log(M_\star/M_\odot) = 8.03$), low metallicity (median $Z = 0.14 Z_\odot$), little dust (median $A_V = 0.18$ mag) and high SSFR (median $SSFR = 1.18 \times 10^{-8}/yr$). Additionally, galaxies in our sample show increasing EW(\Ha) and EW(\OIIIHb) with redshift, an anti-correlation of EW(\Ha) with stellar mass, and no correlation between EW(\OIIIHb) and stellar mass. Finally, we present NIRSpec spectroscopy of 15 of the EELGs in our sample. These spectra confirm the redshifts and EWs of the EELGs calculated from the medium bands, which demonstrates the accuracy and efficiency of our color selections. Overall, we show that there are significant advantages to using medium band photometry to identify and study EELGs at a wide range of redshifts., Comment: Submitted to ApJL. 11 pages, 5 figures, animated Figure 1 is available to view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTjjjyFRJys and available for download here: https://github.com/sunnawithers/EELG_colours/blob/main/Figure1_EELGcolours_Withers%2B2023.mp4

We present the first results on the spatial distribution of dust attenuation at $1.0

We report the discovery of a low-mass $z=5.200\pm 0.002$ galaxy that is in the process of ceasing its star formation. The galaxy, MACS0417-z5PSB, is multiply imaged with magnification factors $\sim40$ by the galaxy cluster MACS J0417.5-1154, observed as part of the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). Using observations of MACS0417-z5PSB with a JWST/NIRSpec Prism spectrum and NIRCam imaging, we investigate the mechanism responsible for the cessation of star formation of the galaxy, and speculate about possibilities for its future. Using spectrophotometric fitting, we find a remarkably low stellar mass of $\rm{M_*}=4.3\pm^{0.9}_{0.8} \times 10^{7} \rm{M_{\odot}}$, less than 1% of the characteristic stellar mass at $z\sim5$. We measure a de-lensed rest-UV half-light radius in the source plane of $30\pm^{7}_{5}$ pc, and measure a star formation rate from H$\alpha$ of $0.14\pm^{0.17}_{0.12}$ $\rm{M_{\odot}/yr}$. We find that under the assumption of a double power law star formation history, MACS0417-z5PSB has seen a recent rise in star formation, peaking $\sim10-30$ Myr ago and declining precipitously since then. Together, these measurements reveal a low-mass, extremely compact galaxy which is in the process of ceasing star formation. We investigate the possibilities of mechanisms that have led to the cessation of star formation in MACS0417-z5PSB, considering stellar and AGN feedback, and environmental processes. We can likely rule out an AGN and most environmental processes, but leave open the possibility that MACS0417-z5PSB could be a star forming galaxy in the lull of a bursty star formation history., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

Using CANUCS imaging we found an apparent major merger of two $z\sim5$ ultra-low-mass galaxies ($M_\star\sim10^{7}M_\odot$ each) that are doubly imaged and magnified $\sim$12-15$\times$ by the lensing cluster MACS 0417. Both galaxies are experiencing young ($\sim$100 Myr), synchronised bursts of star formation with $\log({\rm sSFR/Gyr^{-1}} )\sim$1.3-1.4, yet SFRs of just $\sim 0.2 M_\odot\ {\rm yr}^{-1}$. They have sub-solar ($Z\sim0.2Z_\odot$) gas-phase metallicities and are connected by an even more metal-poor star-forming bridge. The galaxy that forms from the merger will have a mass of at least $M_\star\sim 2\times10^7 M_\odot$, at least half of it formed during the interaction-induced starburst. More than half of the ionizing photons produced by the system (before and during the merger) will have been produced during the burst. This system provides the first detailed look at a merger involving two high-$z$ ultra-low-mass galaxies of the type believed to be responsible for reionizing the Universe. It suggests that such galaxies can grow via a combination of mass obtained through major mergers, merger-triggered starbursts, and long-term in-situ star formation. If such high-$z$ mergers are common, then merger-triggered starbursts could be significant contributors to the ionizing photon budget of the Universe., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, and 1 table; accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

We present a spectroscopic redshift catalogue of the SMACS J0723.3$-$7327 field ("Webb's First Deep Field") obtained from JWST/NIRISS grism spectroscopy and supplemented with JWST/NIRSpec and VLT/MUSE redshifts. The catalogue contains a total of 190 sources with secure spectroscopic redshifts, including 156 NIRISS grism redshifts, 123 of which are for sources whose redshifts were previously unknown. These new grism redshifts are secured with two or more spectroscopic features (64 sources), or with a single spectral feature whose identity is secured from the object's nine-band photometric redshift (59 sources). These are complemented with 17 NIRSpec and 48 MUSE redshifts, including six new NIRSpec redshifts identified in this work. In addition to the $z_{\rm cl}=0.39$ cluster galaxy redshifts (for which we provide $\sim$40 new NIRISS absorption-line redshifts), we also find three prominent galaxy overdensities at higher redshifts - at $z=1.1$, $z=1.4$, and $z=2.0$ - that were until now not seen in the JWST/NIRSpec and VLT/MUSE data. The paper describes the characteristics of our spectroscopic redshift sample and the methodology we have employed to obtain it. Our redshift catalogue is made available to the community at https://niriss.github.io/smacs0723., Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, 3 appendices. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

The identification of bright quasars at z>6 enables detailed studies of supermassive black holes, massive galaxies, structure formation, and the state of the intergalactic medium within the first billion years after the Big Bang. We present the spectroscopic confirmation of 55 quasars at redshifts 5.6

(Abridged) We study the galaxy mass-size relation in CARLA spectroscopically confirmed clusters at $1.410.5$ are systematically $\gtrsim 0.2-0.3~{\rm dex}$ larger than field ETGs. The passive ETG average size evolution is slower at $1

Kernel phase imaging (KPI) enables the direct detection of substellar companions and circumstellar dust close to and below the classical (Rayleigh) diffraction limit. We present a kernel phase analysis of JWST NIRISS full pupil images taken during the instrument commissioning and compare the performance to closely related NIRISS aperture masking interferometry (AMI) observations. For this purpose, we develop and make publicly available the custom "Kpi3Pipeline" enabling the extraction of kernel phase observables from JWST images. The extracted observables are saved into a new and versatile kernel phase FITS file (KPFITS) data exchange format. Furthermore, we present our new and publicly available "fouriever" toolkit which can be used to search for companions and derive detection limits from KPI, AMI, and long-baseline interferometry observations while accounting for correlated uncertainties in the model fitting process. Among the four KPI targets that were observed during NIRISS instrument commissioning, we discover a low-contrast (~1:5) close-in (~1 $\lambda/D$) companion candidate around CPD-66~562 and a new high-contrast (~1:170) detection separated by ~1.5 $\lambda/D$ from 2MASS~J062802.01-663738.0. The 5-$\sigma$ companion detection limits around the other two targets reach ~6.5 mag at ~200 mas and ~7 mag at ~400 mas. Comparing these limits to those obtained from the NIRISS AMI commissioning observations, we find that KPI and AMI perform similar in the same amount of observing time. Due to its 5.6 times higher throughput if compared to AMI, KPI is beneficial for observing faint targets and superior to AMI at separations >325 mas. At very small separations (<100 mas) and between ~250-325 mas, AMI slightly outperforms KPI which suffers from increased photon noise from the core and the first Airy ring of the point-spread function., Comment: 34 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in PASP

(Abridged) To understand if the morphology-density and passive-density relations are already established at z>1.5, we study galaxies in 16 confirmed clusters at $1.3

Using data from JWST, we analyze the compact sources ("sparkles") located around a remarkable $z_{\rm spec}=1.378$ galaxy (the "Sparkler") that is strongly gravitationally lensed by the $z=0.39$ galaxy cluster SMACS J0723.3-7327. Several of these compact sources can be cross-identified in multiple images, making it clear that they are associated with the host galaxy. Combining data from JWST's {\em Near-Infrared Camera} (NIRCam) with archival data from the {\em Hubble Space Telescope} (HST), we perform 0.4-4.4$\mu$m photometry on these objects, finding several of them to be very red and consistent with the colors of quenched, old stellar systems. Morphological fits confirm that these red sources are spatially unresolved even in strongly magnified JWST/NIRCam images, while JWST/NIRISS spectra show [OIII]5007 emission in the body of the Sparkler but no indication of star formation in the red compact sparkles. The most natural interpretation of these compact red companions to the Sparkler is that they are evolved globular clusters seen at $z=1.378$. Applying \textsc{Dense Basis} SED-fitting to the sample, we infer formation redshifts of $z_{form} \sim 7-11$ for these globular cluster candidates, corresponding to ages of $\sim 3.9-4.1$ Gyr at the epoch of observation and a formation time just $\sim$0.5~Gyr after the Big Bang. If confirmed with additional spectroscopy, these red, compact "sparkles" represent the first evolved globular clusters found at high redshift, could be amongst the earliest observed objects to have quenched their star formation in the Universe, and may open a new window into understanding globular cluster formation. Data and code to reproduce our results will be made available at \faGithub\href{https://niriss.github.io/sparkler.html}{http://canucs-jwst.com/sparkler.html}., Comment: Submitted to ApJL. Comments are welcome. Data and code to reproduce our results will be made available at niriss.github.io/sparkler.html

We investigate the evolution of the physical extent of star formation of $M_{\star}>10^9~M_{\odot}$ rapidly-quenching galaxies at $z=1.0-1.4$. We measure the galaxy H$\alpha$ and stellar continuum sizes from their HST/WFC3 G141 grism spectroscopy and connect the galaxy sizes to time on their evolutionary delayed-$\tau$ tracks determined in Noirot et al. (2022). Most galaxies (10/13) have non-evolving H$\alpha$-to-continuum size-ratios consistent with unity within the measurement uncertainties, suggesting an homogeneous decline of star-formation in these galaxies despite a rapid shut-down of their star formation. On the other hand, a handful (3/13) show statistically smaller H$\alpha$ sizes compared to the stellar continuum as they age and approach the blue-cloud/red-sequence transition region. This suggests an outside-in shut-down of the star-formation (potentially driven by environmental mechanisms) in these rapidly evolving galaxies as they move from the blue cloud towards the red sequence., Comment: To appear in RNAAS

We measure the colour evolution and quenching time-scales of $z=1.0-1.8$ galaxies across the green valley. We derive rest-frame $NUVrK$ colours and select blue-cloud, green-valley and red-sequence galaxies from the spectral energy distribution modelling of CANDELS GOODS-South and UDS multi-band photometry. Separately, we constrain the star-formation history (SFH) parameters (ages, $\tau$) of these galaxies by fitting their deep archival HST grism spectroscopy. We derive the galaxy colour-age relation and show that only rapidly evolving galaxies with characteristic delayed-$\tau$ SFH time-scales of $<0.5$ Gyr reach the red sequence at these redshifts, after a period of accelerated colour evolution across the green valley. These results indicate that the stellar mass build-up of these galaxies stays minimal after leaving the blue cloud and entering the green valley (i.e., it may represent $\lesssim 5\%$ of the galaxies' final, quiescent masses). Visual inspection of age-sensitive features in the stacked spectra also supports the view that these galaxies follow a quenching sequence along the blue-cloud $\rightarrow$ green-valley $\rightarrow$ red-sequence track. For this rapidly evolving population, we measure a green-valley crossing time-scale of $0.99^{+0.42}_{-0.25}$ Gyr and a crossing rate at the bottom of the green valley of $0.82^{+0.27}_{-0.25}$ mag/Gyr. Based on these time-scales, we estimate that the number density of massive ($M_\star>10^{10} M_\odot$) red-sequence galaxies doubles every Gyr at these redshifts, in remarkable agreement with the evolution of the quiescent galaxy stellar mass function. These results offer a new approach to measuring galaxy quenching over time and represent a pathfinder study for future JWST, Euclid, and Roman Space Telescope programs., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, 1 appendix. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the wide field slitless spectroscopy mode of the NIRISS instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. This mode employs two orthogonal low-resolution (resolving power $\approx 150$) grisms in combination with a set of six blocking filters in the wavelength range 0.8 to $2.3\,\mu$m to provide a spectrum of almost every source across the field-of-view. When combined with the low background, high sensitivity and high spatial resolution afforded by the telescope, this mode will enable unprecedented studies of the structure and evolution of distant galaxies. We describe the performance of the as-built hardware relevant to this mode and expected imaging and spectroscopic sensitivity. We discuss operational and calibration procedures to obtain the highest quality data. As examples of the observing mode usage, we present details of two planned Guaranteed Time Observations programs: The Canadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS) and The NIRISS Survey for Young Brown Dwarfs and Rogue Planets., Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in PASP

Passive early-type galaxies dominate cluster cores at z $\lesssim$1.5. At higher redshift, cluster core galaxies are observed to have still on-going star-formation, fuelled by cold molecular gas. We measure the molecular gas reservoir of the central region around the radio-loud AGN in the cluster CARLA J1103+3449 at z=1.44 with NOEMA. The AGN synchrotron emission dominates the continuum emission at 94.48 GHz, and we measure its flux at the AGN position and at the position of two radio jets. Combining our measurements with published results over the range 4.71 GHz-94.5 GHz, we obtain a flat spectral index $\alpha = 0.14 \pm 0.03$ for the AGN core emission, and a steeper index $\alpha = 1.43 \pm 0.04$ and $\alpha = 1.15 \pm 0.04$ at positions close to the western and eastern lobe, respectively. The total spectral index is $\alpha = 0.92 \pm 0.02$ over the range 73.8 MHz-94.5 GHz. We detect two CO(2-1) emission lines, both blue-shifted with respect to the AGN. Their emission corresponds to two regions, ~17 kpc south-east and ~14 kpc south-west of the AGN, not associated with galaxies. In these two regions, we find a total massive molecular gas reservoir of $M_{gas}$ = 3.9 $\pm$ 0.4 $10^{10} M_{\odot}$, which dominates (~ 60%) the central total molecular gas reservoir. These results can be explained by massive cool gas flows in the center of the cluster. The AGN early-type host is not yet quenched; its star formation rate is consistent with being on the main sequence of star-forming galaxies in the field (SFR~30-140 $M_{\odot}$/yr), and the cluster core molecular gas reservoir is expected to feed the AGN and the host star-formation before quiescence. The other cluster confirmed members show star formation rates at ~2 $\sigma$ below the field main sequence at similar redshifts and do not have molecular gas masses larger than galaxies of similar stellar mass in the field., Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, A&A, accepted for publication

We report spectroscopic results from our 40-orbit $Hubble~Space~Telescope$ slitless grism spectroscopy program observing the 20 densest CARLA candidate galaxy clusters at $1.4 < z < 2.8$. These candidate rich structures, among the richest and most distant known, were identified on the basis of $[3.6]-[4.5]$ color from a $408~$hr multi-cycle $Spitzer$ program targeting $420$ distant radio-loud AGN. We report the spectroscopic confirmation of $16$ distant structures at $1.4 < z < 2.8$ associated with the targeted powerful high-redshift radio-loud AGN. We also report the serendipitous discovery and spectroscopic confirmation of seven additional structures at $0.87 < z < 2.12$ not associated with the targeted radio-loud AGN. We find that $10^{10} - 10^{11}\,M_{\odot}$ member galaxies of our confirmed CARLA structures form significantly fewer stars than their field counterparts at all redshifts within $1.4\leq z\leq 2$. We also observe higher star-forming activity in the structure cores up to $z = 2$, finding similar trends as cluster surveys at slightly lower redshifts ($1.0 < z < 1.5$). By design, our efficient strategy of obtaining just two grism orbits per field only obtains spectroscopic confirmation of emission-line galaxies. Deeper spectroscopy will be required to study the population of evolved, massive galaxies in these (forming) clusters. Lacking multi-band coverage of the fields, we adopt a very conservative approach of calling all confirmations "structures", although we note that a number of features are consistent with some of them being bona fide galaxy clusters. Together, this survey represents a unique and large homogenous sample of spectroscopically confirmed structures at high redshifts, potentially more than doubling the census of confirmed, massive clusters at $z > 1.4$., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

Using HST slitless grism data, we report the spectroscopic confirmation of two distant structures at $z \sim 2$ associated with powerful high-redshift radio-loud AGN. These rich structures, likely (forming) clusters, are among the most distant currently known and were identified on the basis of Spitzer/IRAC [3.6] - [4.5] color. We spectroscopically confirm 9 members in the field of MRC 2036-254, comprising eight star-forming galaxies and the targeted radio galaxy. The median redshift is $z = 2.000$. We spectroscopically confirm 10 members in the field of B3 0756+406, comprising eight star-forming galaxies and two AGN, including the targeted radio-loud quasar. The median redshift is $z = 1.986$. All confirmed members are within 500 kpc (1 arcmin) of the targeted AGN. We derive median (mean) star-formation rates of $\sim 35~M_{\odot}\rm ~ yr^{-1}$ ($\sim 50~M_{\odot}\rm ~ yr^{-1}$) for the confirmed star-forming members of both structures based on their [OIII]$\lambda5007$ luminosities, and estimate average galaxy stellar masses $\lesssim 1 \times 10^{11} ~M_{\odot}$ based on mid-infrared fluxes and SED modeling. Most of our confirmed members are located above the star-forming main-sequence towards starburst galaxies, consistent with clusters at these early epochs being the sites of significant levels of star formation. The structure around MRC 2036-254 shows an overdensity of IRAC-selected candidate galaxy cluster members consistent with being quiescent galaxies, while the structure around B3 0756+406 shows field values, albeit with many lower limits to colors that could allow an overdensity of faint red quiescent galaxies. The structure around MRC 2036-254 shows a red sequence of passive galaxy candidates., Comment: Accepted to ApJ