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<p>Stars in galaxies form when baryons radiatively cool down and fall into dark matter-dominated gravitational wells. Eventually, star formation quenches as gas is depleted and/or perturbed by feedback processes that prevent the gas from collapsing and condensing. Here we report spatially resolved spectroscopic observations, using the JWST/NIRSpec integral field unit, of a massive, quiescent galaxy (Jekyll) and its neighbourhood at redshift <i>z</i> = 3.714, when the Universe age was 10% of today’s. Jekyll resides in a massive dark matter halo (<i>M</i><sub>DM</sub> &gt; 10<sup>12</sup> <i>M</i><sub>⊙</sub>) forming a galaxy pair with Hyde, which shows intense dust-enshrouded star formation (star-formation rate ~300 <i>M</i><sub>⊙</sub> yr<sup>−1</sup>). We find large amounts of kinematically perturbed ionized and neutral gas in the circumgalactic medium around the pair. Despite this large gas reservoir, Jekyll, which formed a stellar mass of 10<sup>11</sup> <i>M</i><sub>⊙</sub> in stars and chemically enriched early (first billion years of the Universe) and quickly (200–300 Myr), has remained quiescent for over 500 Myr. The properties of the gas found around the two galaxies are consistent with intense, active galactic nucleus-induced photoionization, or intense shocks. However, with the current data, no obscured or unobscured active galactic nucleus is detected in the central galaxy (Jekyll) nor in the very active star-forming galaxy (Hyde). Our study points to a closed-box model followed by preventive feedback to explain the formation and early quenching of massive galaxies in the first 2 Gyr of the Universe.</p>

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Accelerated quenching and chemical enhancement of massive galaxies in a z ≈ 4 gas-rich halo

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月21日

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  • Pablo G. Pérez-González,
  • Francesco D’Eugenio,
  • Bruno Rodríguez del Pino,
  • Michele Perna,
  • Hannah Übler,
  • Roberto Maiolino,
  • Santiago Arribas,
  • Giovanni Cresci,
  • Isabella Lamperti,
  • Andrew J. Bunker,
  • Stefano Carniani,
  • Stephane Charlot,
  • Chris J. Willott,
  • Torsten Böker,
  • Eleonora Parlanti,
  • Jan Scholtz,
  • Giacomo Venturi,
  • Guillermo Barro,
  • Luca Costantin,
  • Ignacio Martín-Navarro,
  • James S. Dunlop,
  • Daniel Magee

摘要

Stars in galaxies form when baryons radiatively cool down and fall into dark matter-dominated gravitational wells. Eventually, star formation quenches as gas is depleted and/or perturbed by feedback processes that prevent the gas from collapsing and condensing. Here we report spatially resolved spectroscopic observations, using the JWST/NIRSpec integral field unit, of a massive, quiescent galaxy (Jekyll) and its neighbourhood at redshift z = 3.714, when the Universe age was 10% of today’s. Jekyll resides in a massive dark matter halo (MDM > 1012 M⊙) forming a galaxy pair with Hyde, which shows intense dust-enshrouded star formation (star-formation rate ~300 M⊙ yr−1). We find large amounts of kinematically perturbed ionized and neutral gas in the circumgalactic medium around the pair. Despite this large gas reservoir, Jekyll, which formed a stellar mass of 1011 M⊙ in stars and chemically enriched early (first billion years of the Universe) and quickly (200–300 Myr), has remained quiescent for over 500 Myr. The properties of the gas found around the two galaxies are consistent with intense, active galactic nucleus-induced photoionization, or intense shocks. However, with the current data, no obscured or unobscured active galactic nucleus is detected in the central galaxy (Jekyll) nor in the very active star-forming galaxy (Hyde). Our study points to a closed-box model followed by preventive feedback to explain the formation and early quenching of massive galaxies in the first 2 Gyr of the Universe.