JWST's TEMPLATES for Star Formation: The First Resolved Gas-phase Metallicity Maps of Dust-obscured Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 4

Birkin, Jack E.; Hutchison, Taylor A.; Welch, Brian; Spilker, Justin S.; Aravena, Manuel; Bayliss, Matthew B.; Cathey, Jared; Chapman, Scott C.; Gonzalez, Anthony H.; Gururajan, Gayathri; Hayward, Christopher C.; Khullar, Gourav; Kim, Keunho J.; Mahler, Guillaume; Malkan, Matthew A.; Narayanan, Desika; Olivier, Grace M.; Phadke, Kedar A.; Reuter, Cassie; Rigby, Jane R.; Smith, J. D. T.; Solimano, Manuel; Sulzenauer, Nikolaus; Vieira, Joaquin D.; Vizgan, David; Weiss, Axel

Abstract

We present the first spatially resolved maps of gas-phase metallicity for two dust-obscured star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 4, from the JWST TEMPLATES Early Release Science program, derived from NIRSpec integral field unit spectroscopy of the Hα and [N ii] emission lines. Empirical optical line calibrations are used to determine that the sources are globally enriched to near-solar levels. While one source shows elevated [N ii]/Hα ratios and broad Hα emission consistent with the presence of an active galactic nucleus in a ≳1 kpc region, we argue that both systems have already undergone significant metal enrichment as a result of their extremely high star formation rates. Utilizing Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array rest-frame 380 μm continuum and [Ci](3P2–3P1) line maps we compare the spatial variation of the metallicity and gas-to-dust ratio in the two galaxies, finding the two properties to be anticorrelated on highly resolved spatial scales, consistent with various literature studies of z ∼ 0 galaxies. The data are indicative of the enormous potential of JWST to probe the enrichment of the interstellar medium on ∼kpc scales in extremely dust-obscured systems at z ∼ 4 and beyond.

Citation

Birkin, J. E., Hutchison, T. A., Welch, B., Spilker, J. S., Aravena, M., Bayliss, M. B., Cathey, J., Chapman, S. C., Gonzalez, A. H., Gururajan, G., Hayward, C. C., Khullar, G., Kim, K. J., Mahler, G., Malkan, M. A., Narayanan, D., Olivier, G. M., Phadke, K. A., Reuter, C., Rigby, J. R., …Weiss, A. (2023). JWST's TEMPLATES for Star Formation: The First Resolved Gas-phase Metallicity Maps of Dust-obscured Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 4. Astrophysical Journal, 958(1), 64. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acf712

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 24, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Dec 5, 2023
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 26, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 26, 2024
• Journal: The Astrophysical Journal
• Print ISSN: 0004-637X
• Electronic ISSN: 1538-4357
• Publisher: American Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 958
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 64
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acf712
• Keywords: Strong gravitational lensing, Galaxy evolution, High-redshift galaxies, Galaxy formation, Starburst galaxies
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1987946