Spectroscopic Confirmation of CEERS NIRCam-selected Galaxies at $\mathbf{z}\simeq 8-10$

Abstract

We present JWST/NIRSpec prism spectroscopy of seven galaxies selected from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS) NIRCam imaging with photometric redshifts z_phot>8. We measure emission line redshifts of z=7.65 and 8.64 for two galaxies, and z=9.77(+0.37,-0.29) and 10.01(+0.14,-0.19) for two others via the detection of continuum breaks consistent with Lyman-alpha opacity from a mostly neutral intergalactic medium. The presence (absense) of strong breaks (strong emission lines) give high confidence that these two galaxies are at z>9.6, but the break-derived redshifts have large uncertainties given the low spectral resolution and relatively low signal-to-noise of the CEERS NIRSpec prism data. The two z~10 sources are relatively luminous (M_UV<-20), with blue continua (-2.3<beta<-1.9) and low dust attenuation (A_V=0.15(+0.3,-0.1)); and at least one of them has high stellar mass for a galaxy at that redshift (log(M_*/M_sol)=9.3(+0.2,-0.3)). Considered together with spectroscopic observations of other CEERS NIRCam-selected high-z galaxy candidates in the literature, we find a high rate of redshift confirmation and low rate of confirmed interlopers (8.3%). Ten out of 34 z>8 candidates with CEERS NIRSpec spectroscopy do not have secure redshifts, but the absence of emission lines in their spectra is consistent with redshifts z>9.6. We find that z>8 photometric redshifts are generally in agreement (within uncertainties) with the spectroscopic values. However, the photometric redshifts tend to be slightly overestimated (average Delta(z)=0.50+/-0.12), suggesting that current templates do not fully describe the spectra of very high-z sources. Overall, our results solidifies photometric evidence for a high space density of bright galaxies at z>8 compared to theoretical model predictions, and further disfavors an accelerated decline in the integrated UV luminosity density at z>8.

Published in ApJL. 19 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables. File with Table 6 included in source .tar file

References in corpus (48)

• The Astropy Project: Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package
• EAZY: A Fast, Public Photometric Redshift Code
• UV Luminosity Functions at redshifts z~4 to z~10: 10000 Galaxies from HST Legacy Fields
• Simba: Cosmological Simulations with Black Hole Growth and Feedback
• Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis Version 2.1: construction, observational verification and new results
• The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope I. Overview of the instrument and its capabilities
• A population of red candidate massive galaxies ~600 Myr after the Big Bang
• A Comprehensive Study on Galaxies at z~9-16 Found in the Early JWST Data: UV Luminosity Functions and Cosmic Star-Formation History at the Pre-Reionization Epoch
• CEERS Key Paper I: An Early Look into the First 500 Myr of Galaxy Formation with JWST
• Two Remarkably Luminous Galaxy Candidates at $z\approx 10-12$ Revealed by JWST
• The evolution of the galaxy UV luminosity function at redshifts z ~ 8-15 from deep JWST and ground-based near-infrared imaging
• A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away: A Candidate z ~ 12 Galaxy in Early JWST CEERS Imaging
• Conditions for Reionizing the Universe with A Low Galaxy Ionizing Photon Escape Fraction
• Early results from GLASS-JWST. III: Galaxy candidates at z$\sim$9-15
• Stress Testing $\Lambda$CDM with High-redshift Galaxy Candidates
• Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies as a Probe of Reionization
• Efficient Formation of Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn by Feedback-Free Starbursts
• The GLASS James Webb Space Telescope Early Release Science Program. I. Survey Design and Release Plans
• Discovery and properties of ultra-high redshift galaxies ($9<z<12$) in the JWST ERO SMACS 0723 Field
• Identification and properties of intense star-forming galaxies at redshifts z>10
• CEERS Epoch 1 NIRCam Imaging: Reduction Methods and Simulations Enabling Early JWST Science Results
• On the stunning abundance of super-early, massive galaxies revealed by JWST
• Revealing Galaxy Candidates out to $z\sim 16$ with JWST Observations of the Lensing Cluster SMACS0723
• The brightest galaxies at Cosmic Dawn
• A lack of evolution in the very bright-end of the galaxy luminosity function from z = 8-10
• The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope II. Multi-object spectroscopy (MOS)
• The Art of Measuring Physical Parameters in Galaxies: A Critical Assessment of Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting Techniques
• CEERS Spectroscopic Confirmation of NIRCam-Selected z > 8 Galaxy Candidates with JWST/NIRSpec: Initial Characterization of their Properties
• EIGER II. first spectroscopic characterisation of the young stars and ionised gas associated with strong H$\beta$ and [OIII] line-emission in galaxies at z=5-7 with JWST
• Non-parametric Star Formation History Reconstruction with Gaussian Processes I: Counting Major Episodes of Star Formation
• Dusty Starbursts Masquerading as Ultra-high Redshift Galaxies in JWST CEERS Observations
• UV Luminosity Density Results at z>8 from the First JWST/NIRCam Fields: Limitations of Early Data Sets and the Need for Spectroscopy
• CEERS Key Paper V: A triality on the nature of HST-dark galaxies
• The Physical Conditions of Emission-Line Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn from JWST/NIRSpec Spectroscopy in the SMACS 0723 Early Release Observations
• First Batch of Candidate Galaxies at Redshifts 11 to 20 Revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope Early Release Observations
• JWST unveils heavily obscured (active and passive) sources up to z~13
• CEERS Key Paper VI: JWST/MIRI Uncovers a Large Population of Obscured AGN at High Redshifts
• A Magnified Compact Galaxy at Redshift 9.51 with Strong Nebular Emission Lines
• Lyman alpha Emitting Galaxies in the Nearby Universe
• On the ages of bright galaxies $\sim 500$ Myr after the Big Bang: insights into star formation activity at $z\gtrsim 15$ with JWST
• Closing in on the sources of cosmic reionization: first results from the GLASS-JWST program
• Evidence for GN-z11 as a luminous galaxy at redshift 10.957
• CEERS Key Paper IV: Galaxies at $4<z<9$ are Bluer than They Appear -- Characterizing Galaxy Stellar Populations from Rest-Frame $\sim 1$ micron Imaging
• The nature of an ultra-faint galaxy in the cosmic Dark Ages seen with JWST
• Early Results From GLASS-JWST. XII: The Morphology of Galaxies at the Epoch of Reionization
• Mock Lightcones and Theory Friendly Catalogs for the CANDELS Survey
• Evidence for Reduced Specific Star Formation Rates in the Centers of Massive Galaxies at z = 4
• The resolved chemical composition of the starburst dwarf galaxy CGCG007-025: Direct method versus photoionization model fitting

Cited by in corpus (71)

• A CEERS Discovery of an Accreting Supermassive Black Hole 570 Myr after the Big Bang: Identifying a Progenitor of Massive z > 6 Quasars
• The CosmoVerse White Paper: Addressing observational tensions in cosmology with systematics and fundamental physics
• Confirmation and refutation of very luminous galaxies in the early universe
• Are the ultra-high-redshift galaxies at z > 10 surprising in the context of standard galaxy formation models?
• RUBIES: a complete census of the bright and red distant Universe with JWST/NIRSpec
• Galaxy Build-up in the first 1.5 Gyr of Cosmic History: Insights from the Stellar Mass Function at $z\sim 4-9$ from JWST NIRCam Observations
• JWST early Universe observations and ΛCDM cosmology
• UNCOVER: Illuminating the Early Universe -- JWST/NIRSpec Confirmation of $z>12$ Galaxies
• JADES: Carbon enrichment 350 Myr after the Big Bang in a gas-rich galaxy
• Negative cosmological constant in the dark energy sector: tests from JWST photometric and spectroscopic observations of high-redshift galaxies
• EPOCHS IV: SED Modelling Assumptions and their impact on the Stellar Mass Function at 6.5 < z < 13.5 using PEARLS and public JWST observations
• The UNCOVER Survey: A First-look HST+JWST Catalog of Galaxy Redshifts and Stellar Population Properties Spanning $0.2\lesssim z\lesssim 15$
• A double take on early and interacting dark energy from JWST
• Identification of a transition from stochastic to secular star formation around $z=9$ with JWST
• Alleviating the need for exponential evolution of JWST galaxies in 10${}^{10}{M}_{\odot }$ haloes at $z>10$ by a modified $\Lambda$CDM power spectrum
• Peering into cosmic reionization: the Ly$\alpha$ visibility evolution from galaxies at $z$ = 4.5-8.5 with JWST
• Seven wonders of Cosmic Dawn: JWST confirms a high abundance of galaxies and AGNs at z $\simeq$ 9-11 in the GLASS field
• JWST FRESCO: a comprehensive census of H$\beta$+[OIII] emitters at 6.8<z<9.0 in the GOODS fields
• Identification of High-Redshift Galaxy Overdensities in GOODS-N and GOODS-S
• ASTRODEEP-JWST: NIRCam-HST multiband photometry and redshifts for half a million sources in six extragalactic deep fields
• Near-infrared emission line diagnostics for AGN from the local Universe to redshift 3
• JWST UNCOVER: The Overabundance of Ultraviolet-luminous Galaxies at $z>9$
• Insight into the Starburst Nature of Galaxy GN-z11 with JWST MIRI Spectroscopy
• Spatially-resolved H$\alpha$ and ionizing photon production efficiency in the lensed galaxy MACS1149-JD1 at a redshift of 9.11
• Density modulated star formation efficiency: implications for the observed abundance of ultra-violet luminous galaxies at z>10
• SPICE: the connection between cosmic reionisation and stellar feedback in the first galaxies
• The NIRSpec Wide GTO Survey
• The evolution of the SFR and Sigma-SFR of galaxies in cosmic morning (4 < z < 10)
• Physical properties of extreme emission-line galaxies at $z\sim 4-9$ from the JWST CEERS survey
• A $Li$ne $Me$asuring library for large and complex spectroscopic data sets: Implementation of a virtual observatory for JWST spectra
• Massive Dark Matter Halos at High Redshift: Implications for Observations in the JWST Era
• Testing CCC+TL Cosmology with Observed BAO Features
• How do Primordial Black Holes change the Halo Mass Function and Structure?
• Hitting the slopes: A spectroscopic view of UV continuum slopes of galaxies reveals a reddening at z > 9.5
• X-Shooting ULLYSES: Massive stars at low metallicity. IV. Spectral analysis methods and exemplary results for O stars
• Can primordial black holes explain the overabundance of bright super-early galaxies?
• Constraints on the $z\sim 6-13$ intergalactic medium from JWST spectroscopy of Lyman-alpha damping wings in galaxies
• Lonely Little Red Dots: Challenges to the AGN-nature of little red dots through their clustering and spectral energy distributions
• ALMA observations of super-early galaxies: attenuation-free model predictions
• Witnessing an extreme, highly efficient galaxy formation mode with resolved Ly$\alpha$ and LyC emission
• The GLASS-JWST Early Release Science Program. IV. Data release of 263 spectra from 245 unique sources
• Pushing JWST to the extremes: search and scrutiny of bright galaxy candidates at z$\simeq$15-30
• Beyond the first galaxies primordial black holes shine
• Strong spectral features from asymptotic giant branch stars in distant quiescent galaxies
• The first GLIMPSE of the faint galaxy population at Cosmic Dawn with JWST: The evolution of the ultraviolet luminosity function across z~9-15
• Exploring cosmological imprints of phantom crossing with dynamical dark energy in Horndeski gravity
• Exploring Cosmic Dawn with PANORAMIC I: The Bright End of the UVLF at $z\sim 9-17$
• MAGAZ3NE: Massive, Extremely Dusty Galaxies at $z\sim 2$ Lead to Photometric Overestimation of Number Densities of the Most Massive Galaxies at $3<z<4$
• The ionizing photon production efficiency of star-forming galaxies at $z\sim 4-10$
• JWST spectroscopic confirmation of the Cosmic Gems arc at z=9.625 -- Insights into the small scale structure of a post-burst system
• NOEMA reveals the true nature of luminous red JWST z>10 galaxy candidates
• Galaxy Mergers in the Epoch of Reionization II: Major Merger-Triggered Star Formation and AGN Activities at $z=$ 4.5-8.5
• Spatially resolved [CII]-gas conversion factor in early galaxies
• Physical properties of strong 1 < z < 3 Balmer and Paschen lines emitters observed with JWST
• Spectroscopic confirmation of a dust-obscured, metal-rich dwarf galaxy at z~5
• Unveiling the Cosmic Gems Arc at $z\sim 10$ with JWST NIRCam
• CEERS: Forging the First Dust Grains in the Universe? A Population of Galaxies with spectroscopically-derived Extremely Low Dust Attenuation (GELDA) at 4.0<z<11.4
• Identifying Lyα emitter candidates with Random Forest: learning from galaxies in CANDELS survey
• Influence of mergers on LyC escape of high redshift galaxies
• Dust emission from the bulk of galaxies at the Epoch of Reionization
• Investigating cosmic strings using large-volume hydrodynamical simulations in the context of JWST's massive UV-bright galaxies
• Radiation-driven dusty outflows from early galaxies
• Cosmic Vine: High abundance of massive galaxies and dark matter halos in a forming cluster at z=3.44
• Cloudy with a chance of starshine: Possible photometric signatures of nebular-dominated emission in $1.5<z<8.5$ JADES galaxies
• Performance of Photometric Template Fitting for Ultra-High Redshift Galaxies
• Amaryllis: a digital twin of the earliest galaxies in the Universe
• Expected Gamma-Ray Burst Detection Rates and Redshift Distributions for the BlackCAT CubeSat Mission
• A physically-motivated template set for high-z galaxy SED fitting
• Tracing ionized gas kinematics in Lyman-Break Analogs. Implications for star formation compactness and outflow properties
• HELM's deep: Highly Extincted Low-Mass galaxies seen by JWST
• On the missing dust of super-early galaxies: Supernova blowout and gas-dust venting in Blue Monsters