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| Paper: |
Exploring Barred Galaxies in the Young Universe at z~2 Using JWST CEERS Data |
| Volume: |
540, Compendium of Undergraduate Research in Astronomy and Space Science |
| Page: |
27 |
| Authors: |
Pritchett, K., Jr.; Jogee, S.; Guo, Y. |
| Abstract: |
Studying barred galaxies at early epochs can shed light on the early evolution of stellar bars, their impact on secular evolution and the star-formation activity of young galaxies, and the origins of present-day barred galaxies like the Milky Way. We analyze data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey to explore the impact of rest-frame wavelength and spatial resolution on detecting and characterizing some of the highest redshift barred galaxies known to date, at z ∼ 2 corresponding to an epoch when the universe was only ∼22% of its current age. We applied both visual classification and ellipse fitting to JWST images (including images taken with F115W, F200W, and F444W) of the barred galaxy CEERS-30155 at z ≈ 2.136. We find that the stellar bar in CEERS-30155 is not visible in the F115W image, which traces rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) light at z ∼ 2, a rest-frame wavelength highly obscured by dust. The stellar bar is visible in the F200W image, but is most prominent in the F444W image, likely due to the F444W image tracing rest frame near-infrared (NIR) light at z ∼ 2. Rest frame NIR light is not obscured by dust and traces low-mass, long-lived stars that dominate the stellar mass in galaxies. However, ellipse fits of the F444W image only robustly detect stellar bars whose semimajor axes (sma) are at least one PSF (∼0.16″ or ∼1.4 kpc at z ∼ 2). At z ∼ 2, stellar bars smaller than 1.5 kpc will be more robustly detected in the sharper F200W image (PSF ∼0.08″ or ∼0.7 kpc at z ∼ 2), provided that the optical light from the rest frame it traces is not overly impacted by dust and can still reveal the structure of the bar. Using a combination of F200W and F444W images from JWST can improve the detection of barred galaxies at z ∼ 2 to z ∼ 4. At even higher redshifts (z > 4), the Giant Magellan Telescope with adaptive optics will be a cornerstone facility to explore young barred galaxies. |
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