First Look at z > 1 Bars in the Rest-frame Near-infrared with JWST Early CEERS Imaging

Authors

• Yuchen Guo, The University of Texas at Austin
• Shardha Jogee, The University of Texas at Austin
• Steven L. Finkelstein, The University of Texas at Austin
• Zilei Chen, The University of Texas at Austin
• Eden Wise, The University of Texas at Austin
• Micaela B. Bagley, The University of Texas at Austin
• Guillermo Barro, University of the PacificFollow
• Stijn Wuyts, University of Bath, Department of Physics
• Dale D. Kocevski, Colby College
• Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Elizabeth J. McGrath, Colby College
• Henry C. Ferguson, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Bahram Mobasher, University of California, Riverside
• Mauro Giavalisco, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Ray A. Lucas, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Jorge A. Zavala, National Institutes of Natural Sciences - National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
• Jennifer M. Lotz, NOIRLab
• Norman A. Grogin, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Marc Huertas-Company, Instituto Astrofisico de Canarias
• Jesús Vega-Ferrero, Instituto Astrofisico de Canarias
• Nimish P. Hathi, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Pablo Arrabal Haro, NOIRLab

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal Letters

Department

Physics

ISSN

20418213

Volume

945

Issue

1

DOI

10.3847/2041-8213/acacfb

First Page

1

Last Page

13

Publication Date

3-1-2023

Abstract

Stellar bars are key drivers of secular evolution in galaxies and can be effectively studied using rest-frame near-infrared (NIR) images, which trace the underlying stellar mass and are less impacted by dust and star formation than rest-frame UV or optical images. We leverage the power of JWST CEERS NIRCam images to present the first quantitative identification and characterization of stellar bars at z > 1 based on rest-frame NIR F444W images of high resolution (∼1.3 kpc at z ∼ 1-3). We identify stellar bars in these images using quantitative criteria based on ellipse fits. For this pilot study, we present six examples of robustly identified bars at z > 1 with spectroscopic redshifts, including the two highest-redshift bars at z ∼ 2.136 and 2.312 quantitatively identified and characterized to date. The stellar bars at z ∼ 1.1-2.3 presented in our study have projected semimajor axes of ∼2.9-4.3 kpc and projected ellipticities of ∼0.41-0.53 in the rest-frame NIR. The barred host galaxies have stellar masses ∼1 × 10¹⁰ to 2 × 10¹¹ M ⊙ and star formation rates of ∼21-295 M ⊙ yr⁻¹, and several have potential nearby companions. Our finding of bars at z ∼ 1.1-2.3 demonstrates the early onset of such instabilities and supports simulations where bars form early in massive dynamically cold disks. It also suggests that if these bars at lookback times of 8-11 Gyr survive out to present epochs, bar-driven secular processes may operate over a long time and have a significant impact on some galaxies by z ∼ 0.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Guo, Yuchen; Jogee, Shardha; Finkelstein, Steven L.; Chen, Zilei; Wise, Eden; Bagley, Micaela B.; Barro, Guillermo; Wuyts, Stijn; Kocevski, Dale D.; Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S.; McGrath, Elizabeth J.; Ferguson, Henry C.; Mobasher, Bahram; Giavalisco, Mauro; Lucas, Ray A.; Zavala, Jorge A.; Lotz, Jennifer M.; Grogin, Norman A.; Huertas-Company, Marc; Vega-Ferrero, Jesús; Hathi, Nimish P.; and Arrabal Haro, Pablo, "First Look at z > 1 Bars in the Rest-frame Near-infrared with JWST Early CEERS Imaging" (2023). Pacific Faculty Work. 146.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/all-faculty/146