Professor Andrew Bunker

Abstract:

We present ten novel [OIII]λ4363 auroral line detections up to z~ 9.5 measured from ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec MSA spectroscopy from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). We leverage the deepest spectroscopic observations taken thus far with NIRSpec to determine electron temperatures and oxygen abundances using the direct Te method. We directly compare these results against a suite of locally calibrated strong-line diagnostics and recent high-z calibrations. We find the calibrations fail to simultaneously match our JADES sample, thus warranting a self-consistent revision of these calibrations for the high-z Universe. We find a weak dependence between R2 and O3O2 with metallicity, thus suggesting these line ratios are inefficient in the high-z Universe as metallicity diagnostics and degeneracy breakers. We find R3 and R23 are still correlated with metallicity, but we find a tentative flattening of these diagnostics, thus suggesting future difficulties when applying these strong line ratios as metallicity indicators in the high-z Universe. We also propose and test an alternative diagnostic based on a different combination of R3 and R2 with a higher dynamic range. We find a reasonably good agreement (median offset of 0.002 dex, median absolute offset of 0.13 dex) with the JWST sample at low metallicity, but future investigations are required on larger samples to probe past the turnover point. At a given metallicity, our sample demonstrates higher ionization and excitation ratios than local galaxies with rest-frame EWs(Hβ) ≈ 200-300 Å. However, we find the median rest-frame EWs(Hβ) of our sample to be~2× less than the galaxies used for the local calibrations. This EW discrepancy combined with the high ionization of our galaxies does not offer a clear description of [OIII]λ4363 production in the high-z Universe, thus warranting a much deeper examination into the factors influencing these processes

Abstract:

JWST has revolutionized the field of extragalactic astronomy with its sensitive and high-resolution infrared view of the distant Universe. Adding to the new legacy of JWST observations, we present the first NIRCam imaging data release from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), providing nine filters of infrared imaging of ∼25 arcmin2 covering the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and portions of Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey South. Utilizing 87 on-sky dual-filter hours of exposure time, these images reveal the deepest ever near-infrared view of this iconic field. We supply carefully constructed nine-band mosaics of the JADES bands, as well as matching reductions of five additional bands from the JWST Extragalactic Medium-band Survey. Combining with existing Hubble Space Telescope imaging, we provide 23-band space-based photometric catalogs and photometric redshifts for ≈47,500 sources. To promote broad engagement with JADES, we have created an interactive FitsMap website to provide an interface for professional researchers and the public to experience these JWST data sets. Combined with the first JADES NIRSpec data release, these public JADES imaging and spectroscopic data sets provide a new foundation for discoveries of the infrared Universe by the worldwide scientific community