Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3–13.2

Emma Curtis-Lake; Stefano Carniani; Alex Cameron; Stephane Charlot; Peter Jakobsen; Roberto Maiolino; Andrew Bunker; Joris Witstok; Renske Smit; Jacopo Chevallard; Chris Willott; Pierre Ferruit; Santiago Arribas; Nina Bonaventura; Mirko Curti; Francesco D’Eugenio; Marijn Franx; Giovanna Giardino; Tobias J. Looser; Nora Lützgendorf; Michael V. Maseda; Tim Rawle; Hans Walter Rix; Bruno Rodríguez del Pino; Hannah Übler; Marco Sirianni; Alan Dressler; Eiichi Egami; Daniel J. Eisenstein; Ryan Endsley; Kevin Hainline; Ryan Hausen; Benjamin D. Johnson; Marcia Rieke; Brant Robertson; Irene Shivaei; Daniel P. Stark; Sandro Tacchella; Christina C. Williams; Christopher N.A. Willmer; Rachana Bhatawdekar; Rebecca Bowler; Kristan Boyett; Zuyi Chen; Anna de Graaff; Jakob M. Helton; Raphael E. Hviding; Gareth C. Jones; Nimisha Kumari; Jianwei Lyu; Erica Nelson; Michele Perna; Lester Sandles; Aayush Saxena; Katherine A. Suess; Fengwu Sun; Michael W. Topping; Imaan E.B. Wallace; Lily Whitler

doi:10.1038/s41550-023-01918-w

Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3–13.2

Emma Curtis-Lake, Stefano Carniani, Alex Cameron, Stephane Charlot, Peter Jakobsen, Roberto Maiolino, Andrew Bunker, Joris Witstok, Renske Smit, Jacopo Chevallard, Chris Willott, Pierre Ferruit, Santiago Arribas, Nina Bonaventura, Mirko Curti, Francesco D’Eugenio, Marijn Franx, Giovanna Giardino, Tobias J. Looser, Nora LützgendorfMichael V. Maseda, Tim Rawle, Hans Walter Rix, Bruno Rodríguez del Pino, Hannah Übler, Marco Sirianni, Alan Dressler, Eiichi Egami, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Ryan Endsley, Kevin Hainline, Ryan Hausen, Benjamin D. Johnson, Marcia Rieke, Brant Robertson, Irene Shivaei, Daniel P. Stark, Sandro Tacchella, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N.A. Willmer, Rachana Bhatawdekar, Rebecca Bowler, Kristan Boyett, Zuyi Chen, Anna de Graaff, Jakob M. Helton, Raphael E. Hviding, Gareth C. Jones, Nimisha Kumari, Jianwei Lyu, Erica Nelson, Michele Perna, Lester Sandles, Aayush Saxena, Katherine A. Suess, Fengwu Sun, Michael W. Topping, Imaan E.B. Wallace, Lily Whitler

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Abstract

Finding and characterizing the first galaxies that illuminated the early universe at cosmic dawn is pivotal to understand the physical conditions and the processes that led to the formation of the first stars. In the first few months of operations, imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been used to identify tens of candidates of galaxies at redshift (z) greater than 10, less than 450 million years after the Big Bang. However, none of such candidates has yet been confirmed spectroscopically, leaving open the possibility that they are actually low-redshift interlopers. Here we present spectroscopic confirmation and analysis of four galaxies unambiguously detected at redshift 10.3 ≤ z ≤ 13.2, previously selected from JWST Near Infrared Camera imaging. The spectra reveal that these primeval galaxies are metal poor, have masses on the order of about 10⁷–10⁸ solar masses and young ages. The damping wings that shape the continuum close to the Lyman edge provide constraints on the neutral hydrogen fraction of the intergalactic medium from normal star-forming galaxies. These findings demonstrate the rapid emergence of the first generations of galaxies at cosmic dawn.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	622-632
Number of pages	11
Journal	Nature Astronomy
Volume	7
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-01918-w
State	Published - May 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Curtis-Lake, E., Carniani, S., Cameron, A., Charlot, S., Jakobsen, P., Maiolino, R., Bunker, A., Witstok, J., Smit, R., Chevallard, J., Willott, C., Ferruit, P., Arribas, S., Bonaventura, N., Curti, M., D’Eugenio, F., Franx, M., Giardino, G., Looser, T. J., ... Whitler, L. (2023). Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3–13.2. Nature Astronomy, 7(5), 622-632. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-01918-w

Curtis-Lake, E, Carniani, S, Cameron, A, Charlot, S, Jakobsen, P, Maiolino, R, Bunker, A, Witstok, J, Smit, R, Chevallard, J, Willott, C, Ferruit, P, Arribas, S, Bonaventura, N, Curti, M, D’Eugenio, F, Franx, M, Giardino, G, Looser, TJ, Lützgendorf, N, Maseda, MV, Rawle, T, Rix, HW, Rodríguez del Pino, B, Übler, H, Sirianni, M, Dressler, A, Egami, E, Eisenstein, DJ, Endsley, R, Hainline, K, Hausen, R, Johnson, BD, Rieke, M, Robertson, B, Shivaei, I, Stark, DP, Tacchella, S, Williams, CC , Willmer, CNA, Bhatawdekar, R, Bowler, R, Boyett, K, Chen, Z, de Graaff, A, Helton, JM, Hviding, RE, Jones, GC, Kumari, N, Lyu, J, Nelson, E, Perna, M, Sandles, L, Saxena, A, Suess, KA, Sun, F, Topping, MW, Wallace, IEB & Whitler, L 2023, 'Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3–13.2', Nature Astronomy, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 622-632. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-01918-w

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title = "Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3–13.2",

abstract = "Finding and characterizing the first galaxies that illuminated the early universe at cosmic dawn is pivotal to understand the physical conditions and the processes that led to the formation of the first stars. In the first few months of operations, imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been used to identify tens of candidates of galaxies at redshift (z) greater than 10, less than 450 million years after the Big Bang. However, none of such candidates has yet been confirmed spectroscopically, leaving open the possibility that they are actually low-redshift interlopers. Here we present spectroscopic confirmation and analysis of four galaxies unambiguously detected at redshift 10.3 ≤ z ≤ 13.2, previously selected from JWST Near Infrared Camera imaging. The spectra reveal that these primeval galaxies are metal poor, have masses on the order of about 107–108 solar masses and young ages. The damping wings that shape the continuum close to the Lyman edge provide constraints on the neutral hydrogen fraction of the intergalactic medium from normal star-forming galaxies. These findings demonstrate the rapid emergence of the first generations of galaxies at cosmic dawn.",

author = "Emma Curtis-Lake and Stefano Carniani and Alex Cameron and Stephane Charlot and Peter Jakobsen and Roberto Maiolino and Andrew Bunker and Joris Witstok and Renske Smit and Jacopo Chevallard and Chris Willott and Pierre Ferruit and Santiago Arribas and Nina Bonaventura and Mirko Curti and Francesco D{\textquoteright}Eugenio and Marijn Franx and Giovanna Giardino and Looser, {Tobias J.} and Nora L{\"u}tzgendorf and Maseda, {Michael V.} and Tim Rawle and Rix, {Hans Walter} and {Rodr{\'i}guez del Pino}, Bruno and Hannah {\"U}bler and Marco Sirianni and Alan Dressler and Eiichi Egami and Eisenstein, {Daniel J.} and Ryan Endsley and Kevin Hainline and Ryan Hausen and Johnson, {Benjamin D.} and Marcia Rieke and Brant Robertson and Irene Shivaei and Stark, {Daniel P.} and Sandro Tacchella and Williams, {Christina C.} and Willmer, {Christopher N.A.} and Rachana Bhatawdekar and Rebecca Bowler and Kristan Boyett and Zuyi Chen and {de Graaff}, Anna and Helton, {Jakob M.} and Hviding, {Raphael E.} and Jones, {Gareth C.} and Nimisha Kumari and Jianwei Lyu and Erica Nelson and Michele Perna and Lester Sandles and Aayush Saxena and Suess, {Katherine A.} and Fengwu Sun and Topping, {Michael W.} and Wallace, {Imaan E.B.} and Lily Whitler",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2023",

month = may,

doi = "10.1038/s41550-023-01918-w",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3–13.2

AU - Curtis-Lake, Emma

AU - Carniani, Stefano

AU - Cameron, Alex

AU - Charlot, Stephane

AU - Jakobsen, Peter

AU - Maiolino, Roberto

AU - Bunker, Andrew

AU - Witstok, Joris

AU - Smit, Renske

AU - Chevallard, Jacopo

AU - Willott, Chris

AU - Ferruit, Pierre

AU - Arribas, Santiago

AU - Bonaventura, Nina

AU - Curti, Mirko

AU - D’Eugenio, Francesco

AU - Franx, Marijn

AU - Giardino, Giovanna

AU - Looser, Tobias J.

AU - Lützgendorf, Nora

AU - Maseda, Michael V.

AU - Rawle, Tim

AU - Rix, Hans Walter

AU - Rodríguez del Pino, Bruno

AU - Übler, Hannah

AU - Sirianni, Marco

AU - Dressler, Alan

AU - Egami, Eiichi

AU - Eisenstein, Daniel J.

AU - Endsley, Ryan

AU - Hainline, Kevin

AU - Hausen, Ryan

AU - Johnson, Benjamin D.

AU - Rieke, Marcia

AU - Robertson, Brant

AU - Shivaei, Irene

AU - Stark, Daniel P.

AU - Tacchella, Sandro

AU - Williams, Christina C.

AU - Willmer, Christopher N.A.

AU - Bhatawdekar, Rachana

AU - Bowler, Rebecca

AU - Boyett, Kristan

AU - Chen, Zuyi

AU - de Graaff, Anna

AU - Helton, Jakob M.

AU - Hviding, Raphael E.

AU - Jones, Gareth C.

AU - Kumari, Nimisha

AU - Lyu, Jianwei

AU - Nelson, Erica

AU - Perna, Michele

AU - Sandles, Lester

AU - Saxena, Aayush

AU - Suess, Katherine A.

AU - Sun, Fengwu

AU - Topping, Michael W.

AU - Wallace, Imaan E.B.

AU - Whitler, Lily

PY - 2023/5

Y1 - 2023/5

N2 - Finding and characterizing the first galaxies that illuminated the early universe at cosmic dawn is pivotal to understand the physical conditions and the processes that led to the formation of the first stars. In the first few months of operations, imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been used to identify tens of candidates of galaxies at redshift (z) greater than 10, less than 450 million years after the Big Bang. However, none of such candidates has yet been confirmed spectroscopically, leaving open the possibility that they are actually low-redshift interlopers. Here we present spectroscopic confirmation and analysis of four galaxies unambiguously detected at redshift 10.3 ≤ z ≤ 13.2, previously selected from JWST Near Infrared Camera imaging. The spectra reveal that these primeval galaxies are metal poor, have masses on the order of about 107–108 solar masses and young ages. The damping wings that shape the continuum close to the Lyman edge provide constraints on the neutral hydrogen fraction of the intergalactic medium from normal star-forming galaxies. These findings demonstrate the rapid emergence of the first generations of galaxies at cosmic dawn.

AB - Finding and characterizing the first galaxies that illuminated the early universe at cosmic dawn is pivotal to understand the physical conditions and the processes that led to the formation of the first stars. In the first few months of operations, imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been used to identify tens of candidates of galaxies at redshift (z) greater than 10, less than 450 million years after the Big Bang. However, none of such candidates has yet been confirmed spectroscopically, leaving open the possibility that they are actually low-redshift interlopers. Here we present spectroscopic confirmation and analysis of four galaxies unambiguously detected at redshift 10.3 ≤ z ≤ 13.2, previously selected from JWST Near Infrared Camera imaging. The spectra reveal that these primeval galaxies are metal poor, have masses on the order of about 107–108 solar masses and young ages. The damping wings that shape the continuum close to the Lyman edge provide constraints on the neutral hydrogen fraction of the intergalactic medium from normal star-forming galaxies. These findings demonstrate the rapid emergence of the first generations of galaxies at cosmic dawn.

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JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

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ER -

Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3–13.2

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