Confirmation and refutation of very luminous galaxies in the early Universe

Pablo Arrabal Haro (), Mark Dickinson, Steven L. Finkelstein, Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe, Callum T. Donnan, Denis Burgarella, Adam C. Carnall, Fergus Cullen, James S. Dunlop, Vital Fernández, Seiji Fujimoto, Intae Jung, Melanie Krips, Rebecca L. Larson, Casey Papovich, Pablo G. Pérez-González, Ricardo O. Amorín, Micaela B. Bagley, Véronique Buat, Caitlin M. Casey, Katherine Chworowsky, Seth H. Cohen, Henry C. Ferguson, Mauro Giavalisco, Marc Huertas-Company, Taylor A. Hutchison, Dale D. Kocevski, Anton M. Koekemoer, Ray A. Lucas, Derek J. McLeod, Ross J. McLure, Norbert Pirzkal, Lise-Marie Seillé, Jonathan R. Trump, Benjamin J. Weiner, Stephen M. Wilkins and Jorge A. Zavala
Additional contact information
Pablo Arrabal Haro: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
Mark Dickinson: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
Steven L. Finkelstein: The University of Texas at Austin
Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe: Rochester Institute of Technology
Callum T. Donnan: University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory
Denis Burgarella: Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM Marseille
Adam C. Carnall: University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory
Fergus Cullen: University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory
James S. Dunlop: University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory
Vital Fernández: Universidad de La Serena
Seiji Fujimoto: The University of Texas at Austin
Intae Jung: Space Telescope Science Institute
Melanie Krips: IRAM, Domaine Universitaire
Rebecca L. Larson: The University of Texas at Austin
Casey Papovich: Texas A&M University
Pablo G. Pérez-González: Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC-INTA
Ricardo O. Amorín: Universidad de La Serena
Micaela B. Bagley: The University of Texas at Austin
Véronique Buat: Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM Marseille
Caitlin M. Casey: The University of Texas at Austin
Katherine Chworowsky: The University of Texas at Austin
Seth H. Cohen: Arizona State University
Henry C. Ferguson: Space Telescope Science Institute
Mauro Giavalisco: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Marc Huertas-Company: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Taylor A. Hutchison: Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Dale D. Kocevski: Colby College
Anton M. Koekemoer: Space Telescope Science Institute
Ray A. Lucas: Space Telescope Science Institute
Derek J. McLeod: University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory
Ross J. McLure: University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory
Norbert Pirzkal: Space Telescope Science Institute
Lise-Marie Seillé: Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM Marseille
Jonathan R. Trump: University of Connecticut
Benjamin J. Weiner: University of Arizona
Stephen M. Wilkins: University of Sussex
Jorge A. Zavala: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Nature, 2023, vol. 622, issue 7984, 707-711

Abstract: Abstract During the first 500 million years of cosmic history, the first stars and galaxies formed, seeding the Universe with heavy elements and eventually reionizing the intergalactic medium1–3. Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a surprisingly high abundance of candidates for early star-forming galaxies, with distances (redshifts, z), estimated from multiband photometry, as large as z ≈ 16, far beyond pre-JWST limits4–9. Although such photometric redshifts are generally robust, they can suffer from degeneracies and occasionally catastrophic errors. Spectroscopic measurements are required to validate these sources and to reliably quantify physical properties that can constrain galaxy formation models and cosmology10. Here we present JWST spectroscopy that confirms redshifts for two very luminous galaxies with z > 11, and also demonstrates that another candidate with suggested z ≈ 16 instead has z = 4.9, with an unusual combination of nebular line emission and dust reddening that mimics the colours expected for much more distant objects. These results reinforce evidence for the early, rapid formation of remarkably luminous galaxies while also highlighting the necessity of spectroscopic verification. The large abundance of bright, early galaxies may indicate shortcomings in current galaxy formation models or deviations from physical properties (such as the stellar initial mass function) that are generally believed to hold at later times.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06521-7

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