The AURORA Survey: An Extraordinarily Mature, Star-forming Galaxy at z ∼ 7
We present the properties of a massive, large, dusty, metal-rich, star-forming galaxy at z _spec = 6.73. GOODSN-100182 was observed with JWST/NIRSpec as part of the Assembly of Ultradeep Rest-optical Observations Revealing Astrophysics (AURORA) survey, and is also covered by public multiwavelength...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Alice E. Shapley Ryan L. Sanders Michael W. Topping Naveen A. Reddy Anthony J. Pahl Pascal A. Oesch Danielle A. Berg Rychard J. Bouwens Gabriel Brammer Adam C. Carnall Fergus Cullen Romeel Davé James S. Dunlop Richard S. Ellis N. M. Förster Schreiber Steven R. Furlanetto Karl Glazebrook Garth D. Illingworth Tucker Jones Mariska Kriek Derek J. McLeod Ross J. McLure Desika Narayanan Max Pettini Daniel Schaerer Daniel P. Stark Charles C. Steidel Mengtao Tang Leonardo Clarke Callum T. Donnan Emily Kehoe |
| author_facet | Alice E. Shapley Ryan L. Sanders Michael W. Topping Naveen A. Reddy Anthony J. Pahl Pascal A. Oesch Danielle A. Berg Rychard J. Bouwens Gabriel Brammer Adam C. Carnall Fergus Cullen Romeel Davé James S. Dunlop Richard S. Ellis N. M. Förster Schreiber Steven R. Furlanetto Karl Glazebrook Garth D. Illingworth Tucker Jones Mariska Kriek Derek J. McLeod Ross J. McLure Desika Narayanan Max Pettini Daniel Schaerer Daniel P. Stark Charles C. Steidel Mengtao Tang Leonardo Clarke Callum T. Donnan Emily Kehoe |
| author_sort | Alice E. Shapley |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We present the properties of a massive, large, dusty, metal-rich, star-forming galaxy at z _spec = 6.73. GOODSN-100182 was observed with JWST/NIRSpec as part of the Assembly of Ultradeep Rest-optical Observations Revealing Astrophysics (AURORA) survey, and is also covered by public multiwavelength Hubble Space Telescope and JWST imaging. While the large stellar mass of GOODSN-100182 (∼10 ^10 M _⊙ ) was indicated prior to JWST, NIRCam rest-frame optical imaging now reveals the presence of an extended disk ( r _eff ∼ 1.5 kpc). In addition, the NIRSpec R ∼ 1000 spectrum of GOODSN-100182 includes the detection of a large suite of rest-frame optical nebular emission lines ranging in wavelength from [O ii ] λ 3727 up to [N ii ] λ 6583. The ratios of Balmer lines suggest significant dust attenuation ( $E{(B-V)}_{{\rm{gas}}}=0.4{0}_{-0.09}^{+0.10}$ ), consistent with the red rest-frame UV slope inferred for GOODSN-100182 ( β = −0.50 ± 0.09). The star formation rate based on dust-corrected H α emission is $\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{SFR(H}\alpha )/{M}_{\odot }\,{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1})=2.0{2}_{-0.14}^{+0.13}$ , well above the z ∼ 7 star-forming main sequence in terms of specific star formation rate. Strikingly, the ratio of [N ii ] λ 6583/H α emission suggests almost solar metallicity, as does the ratio ([O iii ] λ 5007/H β )/([N ii ] λ 6583/H α ) and the detection of the faint [Fe ii ] λ 4360 emission feature. Overall, the excitation and ionization properties of GOODSN-100182 more closely resemble those of typical star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 2–3 rather than z ∼ 7. Based on public spectroscopy of the GOODS-N field, we find that GOODSN-100182 resides within a significant galaxy overdensity, and is accompanied by a spectroscopically confirmed neighbor galaxy. GOODSN-100182 demonstrates the existence of mature, chemically enriched galaxies within the first billion years of cosmic time, whose properties must be explained by galaxy formation models. |
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| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-6831f0cd615d4c8b84c0de260dcd38e42025-08-20T02:59:46ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01981216710.3847/1538-4357/adaf98The AURORA Survey: An Extraordinarily Mature, Star-forming Galaxy at z ∼ 7Alice E. Shapley0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3509-4855Ryan L. Sanders1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4792-9119Michael W. Topping2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8426-1141Naveen A. Reddy3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9687-4973Anthony J. Pahl4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4464-4505Pascal A. Oesch5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5851-6649Danielle A. Berg6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4153-053XRychard J. Bouwens7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4989-2471Gabriel Brammer8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2680-005XAdam C. Carnall9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1482-5818Fergus Cullen10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-476XRomeel Davé11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2842-9434James S. Dunlop12Richard S. Ellis13https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7782-7071N. M. Förster Schreiber14https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4264-3381Steven R. Furlanetto15https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0658-1243Karl Glazebrook16https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3254-9044Garth D. Illingworth17https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8096-2837Tucker Jones18https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5860-3419Mariska Kriek19https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7613-9872Derek J. McLeod20https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4368-3326Ross J. McLure21Desika Narayanan22https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7064-4309Max Pettini23Daniel Schaerer24https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7144-7182Daniel P. Stark25Charles C. Steidel26https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4834-7260Mengtao Tang27https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5940-338XLeonardo Clarke28https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1249-6392Callum T. Donnan29https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7622-0208Emily Kehoe30Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA ; aes@astro.ucla.eduDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky , 505 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40506, USASteward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USAThe Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Geneva , Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Lyngbyvej 2, DK2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , 2515 Speedway, Stop C1400, Austin, TX 78712, USALeiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsNiels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Lyngbyvej 2, DK2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Copenhagen, DenmarkInstitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKInstitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKInstitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKInstitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower St., London WC1E 6BT, UKMax-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) , Giessenbachstr. 1, D-85748 Garching, GermanyDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA ; aes@astro.ucla.eduCentre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, AustraliaDepartment of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Davis , 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USALeiden Observatory, Leiden University , NL-2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsInstitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKInstitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKDepartment of Astronomy, University of Florida , 211 Bryant Space Sciences Center, Gainesville, FL, USAInstitute of Astronomy , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OHA, UKDepartment of Astronomy, University of Geneva , Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, SwitzerlandSteward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USACahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology , MS 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125, USASteward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA ; aes@astro.ucla.eduInstitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA ; aes@astro.ucla.eduWe present the properties of a massive, large, dusty, metal-rich, star-forming galaxy at z _spec = 6.73. GOODSN-100182 was observed with JWST/NIRSpec as part of the Assembly of Ultradeep Rest-optical Observations Revealing Astrophysics (AURORA) survey, and is also covered by public multiwavelength Hubble Space Telescope and JWST imaging. While the large stellar mass of GOODSN-100182 (∼10 ^10 M _⊙ ) was indicated prior to JWST, NIRCam rest-frame optical imaging now reveals the presence of an extended disk ( r _eff ∼ 1.5 kpc). In addition, the NIRSpec R ∼ 1000 spectrum of GOODSN-100182 includes the detection of a large suite of rest-frame optical nebular emission lines ranging in wavelength from [O ii ] λ 3727 up to [N ii ] λ 6583. The ratios of Balmer lines suggest significant dust attenuation ( $E{(B-V)}_{{\rm{gas}}}=0.4{0}_{-0.09}^{+0.10}$ ), consistent with the red rest-frame UV slope inferred for GOODSN-100182 ( β = −0.50 ± 0.09). The star formation rate based on dust-corrected H α emission is $\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{SFR(H}\alpha )/{M}_{\odot }\,{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1})=2.0{2}_{-0.14}^{+0.13}$ , well above the z ∼ 7 star-forming main sequence in terms of specific star formation rate. Strikingly, the ratio of [N ii ] λ 6583/H α emission suggests almost solar metallicity, as does the ratio ([O iii ] λ 5007/H β )/([N ii ] λ 6583/H α ) and the detection of the faint [Fe ii ] λ 4360 emission feature. Overall, the excitation and ionization properties of GOODSN-100182 more closely resemble those of typical star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 2–3 rather than z ∼ 7. Based on public spectroscopy of the GOODS-N field, we find that GOODSN-100182 resides within a significant galaxy overdensity, and is accompanied by a spectroscopically confirmed neighbor galaxy. GOODSN-100182 demonstrates the existence of mature, chemically enriched galaxies within the first billion years of cosmic time, whose properties must be explained by galaxy formation models.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adaf98Galaxy formationGalaxy evolutionHigh-redshift galaxiesEmission line galaxies |
| spellingShingle | Alice E. Shapley Ryan L. Sanders Michael W. Topping Naveen A. Reddy Anthony J. Pahl Pascal A. Oesch Danielle A. Berg Rychard J. Bouwens Gabriel Brammer Adam C. Carnall Fergus Cullen Romeel Davé James S. Dunlop Richard S. Ellis N. M. Förster Schreiber Steven R. Furlanetto Karl Glazebrook Garth D. Illingworth Tucker Jones Mariska Kriek Derek J. McLeod Ross J. McLure Desika Narayanan Max Pettini Daniel Schaerer Daniel P. Stark Charles C. Steidel Mengtao Tang Leonardo Clarke Callum T. Donnan Emily Kehoe The AURORA Survey: An Extraordinarily Mature, Star-forming Galaxy at z ∼ 7 The Astrophysical Journal Galaxy formation Galaxy evolution High-redshift galaxies Emission line galaxies |
| title | The AURORA Survey: An Extraordinarily Mature, Star-forming Galaxy at z ∼ 7 |
| title_full | The AURORA Survey: An Extraordinarily Mature, Star-forming Galaxy at z ∼ 7 |
| title_fullStr | The AURORA Survey: An Extraordinarily Mature, Star-forming Galaxy at z ∼ 7 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The AURORA Survey: An Extraordinarily Mature, Star-forming Galaxy at z ∼ 7 |
| title_short | The AURORA Survey: An Extraordinarily Mature, Star-forming Galaxy at z ∼ 7 |
| title_sort | aurora survey an extraordinarily mature star forming galaxy at z ∼ 7 |
| topic | Galaxy formation Galaxy evolution High-redshift galaxies Emission line galaxies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adaf98 |
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