EPOCHS-DR2 I: Expanded data release and properties of $6.5<z<16.5$ photometrically selected galaxies across NIRCam deep fields covering $\sim 700\mathrm{arcmi}{\mathrm{n}}^2$ with the galfind software

Abstract

We present the \epochstwo\ sample of $2452$ star forming galaxies at $6.5<z_{\mathrm{phot}}<16.5$ produced using the \galfind\ photometric pipeline across $\sim 650-740{\mathrm{arcmin}}^2$ in six of the most widely used deep, blank field \jwst/NIRCam imaging surveys. $293$ galaxies are spectroscopically confirmed and a spectroscopic--photometric redshift comparison yields a normalized median absolute deviation, ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{NMAD}}=0.017$, an $\eta =4.3\%$ outlier rate, and a mean offset $⟨\Delta z⟩=-0.022$. We find $34$ little red dots (LRDs) with ``V--shaped'' SEDs, as well as $69$ L--type, $36$ T--type, and $2$ compact Y--type brown dwarf candidates, which we remove from our sample. The fiducial sample yields a flattening ${\beta }_{\mathrm{UV}}-M_{\mathrm{UV}}$ relation with only moderately blue median ${\beta }_{\mathrm{UV}}(M_{\mathrm{UV}}=-19)=-2.32_{-0.07}^{+0.08}$ at $z\simeq 12.5$, implying dust-polluted stellar populations at the highest redshifts. A ``gold'' sample of $62$ sources are identified at $z_{\mathrm{phot}}>10.5$, $\sim 85\%$ of which are without NIRSpec follow-up, including $15$ candidates at $z_{\mathrm{phot}}>13.5$ across a diverse range of proper sizes $30\mathrm{pc}\lesssim {\mathrm{r}}_{\mathrm{c}}\lesssim 1.5\mathrm{kpc}$ and UV slopes $-4.0\lesssim {\beta }_{\mathrm{UV}}\lesssim -1.5$. Two very promising candidates stand out, GS-W-4608 and GN-Med-1881, with ${\beta }_{\mathrm{UV}}\lesssim -3$, $\gtrsim 1.6\mathrm{mag}$ \lya\ break colors, and F335M and F410M detections which improve their high-redshift solution robustness. Complementary to our high-redshift sample, this public data release provides the community with optical/NIR catalogs, empirical PSFs, and \eazypy, \bagpipes, and \bdfinder\ SED fitting results, enhancing the legacy value of photometric JWST data in the upcoming era of wide-field imaging datasets with Euclid and Roman.

38 pages, 11 figures, 8 tables, Submitted to ApJ