Paschen-line Constraints on Dust Attenuation and Star Formation at z~1-3 with JWST/NIRSpec

Abstract

We use medium resolution JWST/NIRSpec observations from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey to place the first constraints on dust attenuation and star formation based on the Paschen lines for a sizable sample of 63 galaxies at redshifts z=1.0-3.1. Our analysis indicates strong correlations between the Balmer decrement, Ha/Hb, and line ratios that include the Paschen lines (i.e., Paa/Hb, Pab/Hb, and the Paschen decrement, Paa/Pab), suggesting that the former is sensitive to the overall dust obscuration towards HII regions in high-redshift galaxies. The line ratios are used to derive the nebular reddening, E(B-V)neb, and star-formation rates (SFRs). There is marginal evidence that SFRs deduced from the Paschen lines may exceed by ~25% those derived from the Balmer lines alone, suggesting the presence of star formation that is optically thick in the Balmer lines, though deeper observations are needed to confirm this result. Using the Paschen-line constraints on bolometric SFRs, we reevaluate the relationship between dust obscuration and UV spectral slope, and find a reddening of the UV continuum that, on average, follows the SMC extinction curve. This analysis highlights the need for deeper spectroscopy of more representative samples to evaluate nebular dust attenuation and bolometric SFRs in high-redshift galaxies, and their relationship to the reddening of the UV continuum.

arXiv comment9 pages, 8 figures, 1 table

References in corpus (53)

• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• Star Formation in Galaxies Along the Hubble Sequence
• The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-Forming Galaxies
• Detailed Structural Decomposition of Galaxy Images
• The propagation of uncertainties in stellar population synthesis modeling I: The relevance of uncertain aspects of stellar evolution and the IMF to the derived physical properties of galaxies
• Multiwavelength study of massive galaxies at z~2. I. Star formation and galaxy growth
• A Quantitative Comparison of SMC, LMC, and Milky Way UV to NIR Extinction Curves
• Dust Absorption And The Ultraviolet Luminosity Density At z \approx 3 As Calibrated By Local Starburst Galaxies
• The SINS survey: SINFONI Integral Field Spectroscopy of z ~ 2 Star-forming Galaxies
• An ultra-deep near-infrared spectrum of a compact quiescent galaxy at z=2.2
• 3D-HST WFC3-selected Photometric Catalogs in the Five CANDELS/3D-HST Fields: Photometry, Photometric Redshifts and Stellar Masses
• Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis Version 2.1: construction, observational verification and new results
• The 3D-HST Survey: Hubble Space Telescope WFC3/G141 grism spectra, redshifts, and emission line measurements for $\sim 100,000$ galaxies
• Reevaluating Old Stellar Populations
• CEERS Key Paper I: An Early Look into the First 500 Myr of Galaxy Formation with JWST
• Reddening and Star Formation in Starburst Galaxies
• On Star Formation Rates and Star Formation Histories of Galaxies out to z ~ 3
• Dust Obscuration and Metallicity at High Redshift: New Inferences from UV, H-alpha, and 8 Micron Observations of z~2 Star-Forming Galaxies
• ALMA Spectroscopic Survey in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: The Infrared Excess of UV-selected z=2-10 galaxies as a function of UV-continuum Slope and Stellar Mass
• A Spectroscopic Survey of Redshift 1.4<z<3.0 Galaxies in the Goods-North Field: Survey Description, Catalogs, and Properties
• The FMOS-COSMOS survey of star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1.6. I. Hα-based star formation rates and dust extinction
• GOODS-Herschel Measurements of the Dust Attenuation of Typical Star-Forming Galaxies at High Redshift: Observations of UV-Selected Galaxies at z~2
• Empirical determination of the shape of dust attenuation curves in star-forming galaxies
• The HDUV Survey: A Revised Assessment of the Relationship between UV Slope and Dust Attenuation for High-Redshift Galaxies
• The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope II. Multi-object spectroscopy (MOS)
• The Lyman-Continuum Photon Production Efficiency xi_{ion} of z~4-5 Galaxies from IRAC-based Halpha Measurements: Implications for the Escape Fraction and Cosmic Reionization
• Direct measurements of dust attenuation in z~1.5 star-forming galaxies from 3D-HST: Implications for dust geometry and star formation rates
• GOODS-Herschel:dust attenuation properties of UV selected high redshift galaxies
• Geometry of Star-Forming Galaxies from SDSS, 3D-HST and CANDELS
• Dust Attenuation in UV-selected Starbursts at High Redshift and their Local Counterparts: Implications for the Cosmic Star Formation Rate Density
• The Rising Star-Formation Histories of Distant Galaxies and Implications for Gas Accretion with Time
• Mapping dust through emission and absorption in nearby galaxies
• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] survey: Dust attenuation properties and obscured star formation at z~4.4-5.8
• A Closer look at Bursty Star Formation with $L_{H\alpha }$ and $L_{UV}$ Distributions
• The MOSDEF Survey: the Variation of the Dust Attenuation Curve with Metallicity
• The Bursty Star Formation Histories of Low-mass Galaxies at $0.4<z<1$ Revealed by Star Formation Rates Measured from H$\beta$ and FUV
• The MOSDEF Survey: The First Direct Measurements of the Nebular Dust Attenuation Curve at High Redshift
• MOIRCS Deep Survey. VI. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of K-Selected Star-Forming Galaxies at z~2
• The Star Formation Burstiness and Ionizing Efficiency of Low-mass Galaxies
• Consequences of bursty star formation on galaxy observables at high redshifts
• The Effects of Stellar Population and Gas Covering Fraction on the Emergent Lyman Alpha Emission of High-Redshift Galaxies
• Dust attenuation and Halpha emission in a sample of galaxies observed with Herschel at $0.6<z<1.6$
• The redshift evolution of rest-UV spectroscopic properties in Lyman Break Galaxies at z ~ 2-4
• The Dust Attenuation Curve versus Stellar Mass for Emission Line Galaxies at z ~ 2
• A Preview of JWST Metallicity Studies at Cosmic Noon: The First Detection of Auroral [O II] Emission at High Redshift
• Probing the Star Formation History and Initial Mass Function of the z~2.5 Lensed Galaxy SMM J163554.2+661225 with Herschel
• Dependence of the IRX-$\beta$ dust attenuation relation on metallicity and environment
• The average dust attenuation curve at z~1.3 based on HST grism surveys
• CLEAR: Paschen-$\beta$ Star Formation Rates and Dust Attenuation of Low Redshift Galaxies
• Dust attenuation of the nebular regions and optical emission lines of $z\sim 2$ star-forming galaxies
• High Resolution HST Imaging Survey of Local Star-Forming Galaxies I: Spatially-Resolved Obscured Star Formation with H$\alpha$ and Paschen-$\beta$ Recombination Lines
• Variation of the Nebular Dust Attenuation Curve with the Properties of Local Star-forming Galaxies
• Using Multiple Emission Line Ratios to Constrain the Slope of the Dust Attenuation Law

Cited by in corpus (17)

• High-z galaxies with JWST and local analogues -- it is not only star formation
• A JWST/NIRSpec Exploration of the Connection between Ionization Parameter, Electron Density, and Star-Formation-Rate Surface Density in z=2.7-6.3 Galaxies
• GA-NIFS: The core of an extremely massive proto-cluster at the Epoch of Reionization probed with JWST/NIRSpec
• JWST FRESCO: a comprehensive census of H$\beta$+[OIII] emitters at 6.8<z<9.0 in the GOODS fields
• JWST/NIRSpec Measurements of the Relationships Between Nebular Emission-line Ratios and Stellar Mass at z~3-6
• A First Look at Spatially Resolved Balmer Decrements at $1.0<z<2.4$ from JWST NIRISS Slitless Spectroscopy
• JWST ERS Program Q3D: The pitfalls of virial BH mass constraints shown in a z = 3 quasar with an ultramassive host
• Dead or Alive? How Bursty Star Formation and Patchy Dust Can Cause Temporary Quiescence in High Redshift Galaxies
• JWST/NIRSpec insights into the circumnuclear region of Arp 220: A detailed kinematic study
• JWST/NIRCam Narrowband Survey of Pa$\beta$ Emitters in the Spiderweb Protocluster at z=2.16
• MARTA: Temperature-temperature relationships and strong-line metallicity calibrations from multiple auroral-line detections at cosmic noon
• The JWST/AURORA Survey: Multiple Balmer and Paschen Emission Lines for Individual Star-forming Galaxies at z=1.5-4.4. I. A Diversity of Nebular Attenuation Curves and Evidence for Non-Unity Dust Covering Fractions
• PAH Marks the Spot: Digging for Buried Clusters in Nearby Star-forming Galaxies
• Nebular Dust Attenuation with the Balmer and Paschen Lines based on the MaNGA Survey
• A first look at a complete view of spatially resolved star formation at 1<z<1.8 with JWST NGDEEP+FRESCO slitless spectroscopy
• Nitrogen abundances in star-forming galaxies 2.2 Gyr after the Big Bang are not elevated
• SE3D: Building a radiative transfer emulator to fit panchromatic resolved galaxy observations with 3D models of dust and stars