JADES: Differing assembly histories of galaxies -- Observational evidence for bursty SFHs and (mini-)quenching in the first billion years of the Universe

Abstract

We use deep NIRSpec spectroscopic data from the JADES survey to derive the star formation histories (SFHs) of a sample of 200 galaxies at 0.6$<$z$<$11 and spanning stellar masses from $10^6$ to $10^{9.5}{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$. We find that galaxies at high-redshift, galaxies above the Main Sequence (MS) and low-mass galaxies tend to host younger stellar populations than their low-redshift, massive, and below the MS counterparts. Interestingly, the correlation between age, M${}_{\ast }$ and SFR existed even earlier than Cosmic Noon, out to the earliest cosmic epochs. However, these trends have a large scatter. Indeed, there are examples of young stellar populations also below the MS, indicating recent (bursty) star formation in evolved systems. We explore further the burstiness of the SFHs by using the ratio between SFR averaged over the last 10 Myr and averaged between 10 Myr and 100 Myr before the epoch of observation ($\mathrm{SF}{\mathrm{R}}_{\mathrm{cont},10}/SF{\mathrm{R}}_{\mathrm{cont},90}$). We find that high-redshift and low-mass galaxies have particularly bursty SFHs, while more massive and lower-redshift systems evolve more steadily. We also present the discovery of another (mini-)quenched galaxy at z = 4.4 (in addition to the one at z=7.3 reported by Looser et al. 2023), which might be only temporarily quiescent as a consequence of the extremely bursty evolution. Finally, we also find a steady decline of dust reddening of the stellar population approaching the earliest cosmic epochs, although some dust reddening is still observed in some of the highest redshift and most star forming systems.

Cited by in corpus (20)

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• Hitting the slopes: A spectroscopic view of UV continuum slopes of galaxies reveals a reddening at z > 9.5
• The THESAN-ZOOM project: central starbursts and inside-out quenching govern galaxy sizes in the early Universe
• The first GLIMPSE of the faint galaxy population at Cosmic Dawn with JWST: The evolution of the ultraviolet luminosity function across z~9-15
• PRIMER & JADES reveal an abundance of massive quiescent galaxies at 2 < z < 5
• Exploring Cosmic Dawn with PANORAMIC I: The Bright End of the UVLF at $z\sim 9-17$
• Exploring Spatially-Resolved Metallicities, Dynamics and Outflows in Low-Mass Galaxies at $z\sim 7.6$
• Behind the Spotlight: A systematic assessment of outshining using NIRCam medium-bands in the JADES Origins Field
• JWST spectroscopic confirmation of the Cosmic Gems arc at z=9.625 -- Insights into the small scale structure of a post-burst system
• Double Trouble: Two spectroscopically confirmed low-mass quiescent galaxies at z>5 in overdensities
• A systematic search for dormant galaxies at z~5-7 from the JWST NIRSpec archive
• Taking a Break at Cosmic Noon: Continuum-selected Low-mass Galaxies Require Long Burst Cycles
• Rapid, out of equilibrium metal enrichment indicated by a flat mass-metallicity relation at z~6 from NIRCam grism spectroscopy
• The JWST Emission Line Survey (JELS): The sizes and merger fraction of star-forming galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization
• Cosmic wallflowers: the circumgalactic origins of isolated ultra-compact star clusters at $z>7$
• Dark Secrets of Baryons: Illuminating Dark Matter-Baryon Interactions with JWST
• The slope and scatter of the star forming main sequence at z~5 : reconciling observations with simulations
• pop-cosmos: Star formation over 12 Gyr from generative modelling of a deep infrared-selected galaxy catalogue
• Out of oxygen: Extremely metal-poor galaxy candidates identified at $2.5<z<6.5$ with deep JADES medium-band imaging
• Atomic hydrogen reservoirs in quiescent galaxies at z = 0.4