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Cited by 236Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaAstrophysics and Star Formation StudiesStellar, planetary, and galactic studies

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Confirmation and refutation of very luminous galaxies in the early Universe

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Arrabal Haro, Pablo, Dickinson, Mark, Finkelstein, Steven L., Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S., Donnan, Callum T., Burgarella, Denis, Carnall, Adam C., Cullen, Fergus, Dunlop, James S., Fernández, Vital, Fujimoto, Seiji, Jung, Intae, Krips, Melanie, Larson, Rebecca L., Papovich, Casey, Pérez-González, Pablo G., Amorín, Ricardo O., Bagley, Micaela B., Buat, Véronique, Casey, Caitlin M., Chworowsky, Katherine, Cohen, Seth H., Ferguson, Henry C., Giavalisco, Mauro, Huertas-Company, Marc, Hutchison, Taylor A., Kocevski, Dale D., Koekemoer, Anton M., Lucas, Ray A., McLeod, Derek J., McLure, Ross J., Pirzkal, Norbert, Seillé, Lise-Marie, Trump, Jonathan R., Weiner, Benjamin J., Wilkins, Stephen M., Zavala, Jorge A.·2023·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-023-06521-7
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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 medium 1-3. 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 limits 4-9. 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 cosmology 10. 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.

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References 68 · Cited by 236

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Metadata

Authors
Arrabal Haro, P., Dickinson, M., Finkelstein, S. L., Kartaltepe, J. S., Donnan, C. T., Burgarella, D., Carnall, A. C., Cullen, F., Dunlop, J. S., Fernández, V., Fujimoto, S., Jung, I., Krips, M., Larson, R. L., Papovich, C., Pérez-González, P. G., Amorín, R. O., Bagley, M. B., Buat, V., Casey, C. M., Chworowsky, K., Cohen, S. H., Ferguson, H. C., Giavalisco, M., Huertas-Company, M., Hutchison, T. A., Kocevski, D. D., Koekemoer, A. M., Lucas, R. A., McLeod, D. J., McLure, R. J., Pirzkal, N., Seillé, L.-M., Trump, J. R., Weiner, B. J., Wilkins, S. M., & Zavala, J. A.
Affiliations
  • NSF NOIRLab (US)
  • The University of Texas at Austin (US)
  • Rochester Institute of Technology (US)
  • Royal Observatory (GB)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • University of La Serena (CL)
  • University of Copenhagen (DK)
  • Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
  • Texas A&M University (US)
  • Arizona State University (US)
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
  • Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
  • University of Arizona (US)
  • University of Sussex (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-08-14
Volume
622
Issue
7984
Pages
707-711
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-023-06521-7
OpenAlex
W4385812401
Cited by
236
References
68
Citations by year
2026: 42 · 2025: 78 · 2024: 93 · 2023: 23
FWCI
25.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • HAL AMU (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (cc-by)
Funders
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NAS5-03127)
  • Space Telescope Science Institute (NAS5-03127, JWST-ERS-1345)
  • UK Research and Innovation (EP/X021025/1)
  • Leverhulme Trust
  • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
  • Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN/AEI/10, B-I00, PID2021-126838NB-I00, 10.13039, / AEI/10, PGC2018-093499-B-I00, 13039, PGC2018, PGC2018-100852-A-I00, MCIN /AEI /10.13039)
  • Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (3200340, 1202007)
  • Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/X001040/1, EP/X021025/1)
  • Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2021-126838NB-I00, PGC2018-100852-A-I00, PGC2018-093499-B-I00)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Keywords
high-redshift galaxies, early universe, galaxy formation, spectroscopic confirmation, James Webb Space Telescope, nebular line emission, dust reddening, initial mass function, cosmic reionization, early star formation

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